Take Care of Him
by coolgurl4eva
Summary: AU after the fourth book...The last words Lily ever said to Sirius and Severus were "Take care of him." Can they agree on something long enough for them to keep their promise? Review,please!
1. Chapter 1:Prologe

_July 1980… _

James had known, the second that he'd "married" Lily Evans to protect her and her unborn child from Voldemort, that there was a lot that he didn't know about the redhead. She had, of course, told him as much as she was able to as soon as they moved in together.

"James. This must be a bit awkward for you. I mean, we've been friends for years and now Dumbledore expects you to…"Lily said as James helped her onto the couch.

"You know that as a Marauder, I'd do anything to protect you." James gave her that grin that Lily had become so used over their Hogwarts years.

There was a look in Lily's eyes that James couldn't quite recognize as she turned toward him and began a very long story. "Despite the fact that we've know each other for a rather long time, I'm going to assume that you don't know much about me, other than what Sirius has told you, which I know breaks the Marauder Code. Though, if you want to know more about me, you could just look in the "Marauders' Guide to the Marauders and friends. I'm going to start at the beginning, and tell you everything, even the things you already know, so sit back and get comfortable." She smiled as James grabbed a pillow and blanket from the basket at the end of the couch. "You take everything so literally. I was born on a very snowy and cold January morning to Orion Black and his girlfriend at the time, Aurelia McGonagall. My father's wife, Wallburga, whom you know is Sirius' mum, had just given birth a few months prior to my dear brother, and my father made sure that we were well taken care of in a nice house in Spinner's End."

"I knew that. That was one of the first things you two told me."

" Sirius is going to be one of the godfather's of my baby, too, which I'm sure you think is wonderful. May I go on?" James nodded. "He made sure we were well provided for. I spent Christmas, my birthday, and several other times with him. In the Black family it was quite common to have one or two illegitimate children, and I was somewhat welcomed. So we lived in Spinner's End, quite near my mother's best friend from Hogwarts, Eileen Prince Snape. She had married a horrible muggle name Tobias, but their son became one of my best friends. When I was about a year and a half old, my mother married Richard Evans, a muggle who was almost as horrible as Mr. Snape, and they had Petunia. Though I knew all about magic, I was forced by my mother to keep quiet about it. That's why Severus and I became such good friends; he was the only one I could talk about magic to. In the end, my stepfather found out about me, and he wasn't very cordial about it either. It was okay for me, because I was at Hogwarts by then, and I'd made more friends beside my brother, like you and the rest of the Marauders. Father agreed that it was better to play it up that I was a muggleborn, despite his family's obviously negative views on muggles. It would protect me from some of the nastier fellows in Slytherin, like Lucius Malfoy, who was in his seventh year when we were in first, and his side-kicks. You know most of the Hogwarts stuff, so I don't need to tell you much about that."

"Of course you don't…I know almost everything there is to know about my fellow Marauders and you. Like the fact that you and Gawain Malfoy, aka Winter, have been married since you turned seventeen, and your brother is going to join the death eaters and Sirius hates him because of it and…"

"Thank you, James. I'll continue now. Seventh Year was also the year my stepfather finally succeeded in killing my mother, which my sister still blames me for. It can't be helped. I suppose that you also know that, despite all of Padfoot, Moony, and Midnight's attempts that we can't reach him. Aunt Minerva's been giving him updates."

"I talked to him at work a few days ago, before we, you know, officially went on this "mission". I know that if that was me in his situation, I'd have gone mad by now." James patted Lily on the shoulder. "I'm also glad that my family is not so intermarried that my cousin is my sister-in-law," James grinned.

"You're lucky. You don't even have any cousins that are your age anyway. They're all much older than you. Narcissa isn't that bad though. She might be married to a Death Eater, but she isn't one herself, like Bellatrix is."

Time went on, and soon, at 11:59 on July 31, Lily's child was born. His father wasn't able to be there, but his pseudo-father James, his newly named godfathers Sirius and Severus, and Remus were. "Gawain insists that our son be named after his grandfathers, though he didn't say that I couldn't put a name in front of it so, Sirius, you are holding Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy"

Sirius rolled his eyes and looked down at the tiny emerald eyed baby in his arms. "With a name like that, you're going to be made fun of a lot, even if most of the other pureblood kids have funny names. Though, if you take after your favorite uncle in the looks department, having a funny name won't matter, because you'll have girls hanging all over you."

"Sirius!" Lily scolded. "The boy is only five minutes old, and you're already scarring him for life. If you don't watch out, he's not going to have a 'favorite uncle' much longer."

Severus smirked. "For once, Lily, I agree with your dimwitted brother. He better be the favorite uncle, because the other biological uncles are both in the service of the Dark Lord."And before you say anything about one of his godfathers also being a Death Eater, Sirius, you know that I did not volunteer to have a permanent connection to that creepy maniac. My uncle made that choice for me." James smirked. Severus was the only one of them who ever managed to shut Sirius up when the man wanted to go on a rant.

The next year went by quickly, and as the days grew darker, little Harry became their only bright spot. It was only a matter of time, though, before Lily and James had to go into hiding, as it became increasingly clear that Voldemort was after their little boy. On their last day of freedom before the fidelus charm would be applied Lily made Harry's godfathers give her Unbreakable Vows. If something happened to her, and James or Gawain Malfoy, who had now been forced by his cruel father to join Voldemort despite his pleas that he'd rather not, she wanted to make sure that her son would be taken care of.

"Do everything you can to make sure he is protected. Take care of him."

The two black-haired twenty-one year olds walked away from the cottage in Godric's Hollow that day, not knowing that those would be the last words that they would ever hear Lily say, and not knowing that it would be those words that would be haunting them one steamy June morning fourteen years later.


	2. Chapter 2: The Planning Begins

"_Take care of him…"_

Lily's final words were the only reason that Severus Snape and Sirius Black were willingly sitting together at the kitchen table of Grimmauld Place trying to figure out a way to stop Dumbledore from ruining their godson's life even more than he already had.

"It's insane, Snape! I've done a lot of things for the 'greater good', and I've put up with Dumbledore doing some pretty horrible things 'for the greater good', but this cannot go on any longer. Harry cannot continue to live at the Dursleys, nor can he go to his father's family. Lucius would give him to Voldemort straight off," Sirius fumed.

"Obviously Albus, for reasons I absolutely cannot comprehend, wants Harry to live with Lucius. I never thought I'd see the day when he would agree with the Ministry's wish to place the child with supporters of evil. Not that the Ministry would acknowledge that the man who lines their pockets with gold is completely and totally evil, but still…" Severus added with his patented scowl. "It would be easier for us to get custody of Harry if you weren't a fugitive, if the only thing keeping me from Azkaban is the man we're trying to go against, and if we knew if Gawain Malfoy is still alive. Minerva and the werewolf might be able to help us, though."

"If you want him to help, you should start calling him by name, Snape, but I agree that they may be able to help us with a few things. My cousin Tonks could help us too. She and Moody aren't fond of the way Dumbledore's handling this either, and they have much better connections in higher places than we do."

"If you can fire-call the …Lupin…and your cousin, I will notify Minerva and Moody. We can meet late tonight in that overly charmed meeting room in your basement here. You will be around, yes?"

Sirius rolled his eyes at Severus' attempt at a joke. "No, I think I have plans. The drawing room still needs to be cleaned, you know."

At midnight, six people could be seen sneaking down to the creepy basement room in the equally disturbing basement of the Black house. "Everyone knows why we're here, correct?" Sirius brushed a large spider out of his hair. He turned to the pink-haired young Auror sitting next to him. "You filled in Moody on the story?"

"Of course. We had a special lunch date today."She winked at Moody.

"If you're finished, Miss Tonks…We need to find out why Albus is so willing to let the Ministry give Harry's custody to Lucius Malfoy. That will be your job, Minerva, since you spend the most time with him. We also need to find out if Gawain Malfoy is still alive, and Lupin, since you have the most freedom of any of us, and can more easily use muggle methods if needed, that falls to you. Moody, Miss Tonks, you two will be in charge of making sure the Ministry does not act until we're ready for it… that may be a large task, but if anyone can do it, a man who can see through walls and a shape-changing woman should be able to." Severus looked each person in the eye. "The last words Lily ever spoke to Black and I were 'Take care of him.' If Black and I could break our godson out of the Dursleys residence this second and get him away from the control of Albus and the Ministry, we would. That wouldn't do any good however, so we're going about this in a much more subtle manner. We will not let Lily down."

The six talked for several hours on ways to get information and how they would communicate once they gathered the information.

As the others who were not staying in the house that night left, Severus and Sirius shared a look. They were not, under any circumstances, going to let Lily down.


	3. Chapter 3: In Over Our Heads

"Black, I'm being called by the Dark Lord. It is highly unusual that he call for us in the day, so if I'm not back by tonight, send for help." Severus rubbed his arm and quickly walked to the front step of Grimmauld Place to apparate to Little Hangleton. He made sure that his Occlemency shields were strong, because if Voldemort was going to find out about Harry's relationship to the Malfoys, it wasn't going to be Severus that let him know.

"Ah, Severus, you've made it. You'll never guess what delightful knowledge has reached my ears." Severus had been called to many meetings since Voldemort had regained his body a few weeks earlier, but he still wasn't used to the creepiness of formerly handsome man. Severus, in skills perfected years earlier, carefully took in all of the conversation around him without taking his attention off of his 'master.'

"I cannot imagine what recent event has made you so pleased, my lord. I would love to hear what you have to say." Severus bowed, and took his usual spot next to Lucius.

"Lucius, would you like to inform him? You have done an excellent job with the Minister as of late. I am somewhat pleased with you." Voldemort waved a pale hand at Lucius, who stepped into the open space in front of the other Death Eaters. The praise that Voldemort was so freely heaping on the elder Malfoy was not a good sign.

"As you may or may not be aware, Severus, though I believe you are, Liliana Aurelia McGonagall Black-Malfoy, the pureblood daughter of Orion Black and Aurelia McGonagall, who is more commonly known, due to some very crafty manipulations by the so-called 'Leader of the Light' Albus Dumbledore, as Lily Evans Potter, was, before her death, married to my brother Gawain. Dumbledore set up a sham marriage between Lily and James Potter because he knew that she was pregnant with the child of prophecy, Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy, popularly known as Harry Potter, who is, of course, my nephew. I have been working for several years to get custody of the boy so that we may either turn him to our side or dispose of him. The Minister for Magic, Fudge, is quite easily swayed by money and quite willing to grant me and Narcissa custody of him if my brother is not found by the time Hogwarts is back in session. The odd thing is that Dumbledore seems more than willing to let me have the boy and is not at all interested in trying to locate my brother. Do you have any knowledge of why Dumbledore isn't trying to stop us, Severus?" Lucius' eyebrow arched in question.

Severus' heart, though his perfectly masked emotions did not show it, was racing. They now had less time than they thought to either find Gawain Malfoy or try to gain custody themselves through Lily's will. "I do not have any idea why Dumbledore is seemingly trying to help you get rid of young Mr. Potter, my lord," Severus said, looking Voldemort in the eye. He knew that he didn't have any more information than Voldemort did at the moment, so he could hardly lie. "In fact, ever since I heard that Lucius was trying to gain custody of him, I have been trying to find out why myself. I shall, of course, let you know something when I find out." Severus bowed to Voldemort yet again. "If I may ask, my lord, I have some particularly volatile potions brewing at home, including the one you asked me to make a few days ago, and I need to leave if you wish that potion to turn out well."

"Very well, Severus. I expect you to keep your eyes open and your ears pealed for any information on the situation with Dumbledore and our dear friend Harry. You may leave."

Severus nodded, and slowly threaded his way through the throng of Death Eaters so that he could leave. As soon as he could, he apparated to Remus Lupin's cottage, where he knew the werewolf would be recovering from the previous night's full moon. "Lupin, if you are able, please open this door. I have urgent news." Severus could hear the creaking of the hardwood floor on the other side of the front door. Soon, Remus appeared.

"Come in, Severus." Remus shut the door with a flick of his wand. "I assume you've just come from a meeting with Voldemort, and that he knows about what's going on."

"Astute guess, Lupin. That is exactly what I've come to tell you. Not only does he know almost every thing, he's the one behind Lucius' sudden interest in Harry. We're going to have to move a bit faster. We only have until the end of summer to either find Harry's father or try to gain custody ourselves. Can you inform Minerva? I am avoiding Albus as much as possible these days. I don't want to let on what I know, and he's very good at finding things out without a person meaning to tell him. Minerva should be in her office at Hogwarts. I trust you know where that is?"

Remus snorted. "Know where that is? We all practically lived in that office while we were at Hogwarts. I was also a staff member, as you well know."

"I am aware of that fact. This is urgent, Lupin. If you value Harry's life, you will help me. After you talk to Minerva, please come to Headquarters, the usual room." With that Severus left. He hoped that the Weasleys hadn't arrived at back Headquarters yet. He did not want any of Harry's friends to be privy to the information about him yet, though he knew they would. Molly and the children had been spending most of their time at Grimmauld Place lately, though they'd gone back to the Burrow to make the move semi-permanent.

When he got back to 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius met him at the door. "You'll never guess what Tonks, Kingsley" (who they'd added to their small group since he was also displeased with Dumbledore)" and Moody found out, Snape. It is unbelievable."  
"After the meeting I just had, I can believe anything, Black. Are they still here?" Severus hung his cloak on one of the pegs by the front door.

"No, but they gave me very detailed notes. Molly said that she'd be here in about an hour, though, so we should probably go downstairs." Sirius headed down the stairs, Severus close behind him. They were going to have to act fast, so this was going to need to be the meeting where they would officially decide when they were going to tell Harry what was going on. That, however, became the least of Severus' worries once he began reading Moody's untidy scrawl.

"_Severus—"_he read aloud once Minerva and Remus had arrived_. "Dumbledore has been controlling your life, along with several others, for much longer than you realize." _

"That, in other words, means that we're in over our heads here."


	4. Chapter 4:Deeper than We Thought

"_That, in other words, means we're in over our heads here." _

"We'll see about that, Black, but I'm actually inclined to agree with you on that one." Severus took a deep breath and continued reading Moody's messy scrawl. "_Dumbledore's manipulations of your families go back at least two generations. Here's a partial record of some of the things he's done to Hogwarts students. I only put in the information that pertains to our situation. You may want to have Minerva subdued when you read the first page, because it involves her sister." _Severus paused. "Black, Lupin, if necessary, will you, as Moody eloquently put it "subdue" Minerva?"  
"I can't imagine what could be so bad that I would get that angry about it. But I consent to being stunned only if you feel that I am going to lose control." Minerva shared a look with Severus. "I trust your judgment, Severus. Please read on."

"_The Official Record of Aurelia Rowena McGonagall (Hogwarts Years Only): _

_First Year: In addition to the usual wand tracking charm, five other charms were placed on Miss McGonagall. _

_Unknown spell placed by Transfiguration Professor Albus P.W. B. Dumbledore: caused sorting into Slytherin so that she would become separated from her sister, Minerva Helen McGonagall, a seventh year at the time of the spell. (__**Discovered by Ministry Worker Silas Jones, though nothing was done about it, no one could go against the man who had so recently ridded the world of Grindlewald—Moody)**_

_Blocked Transfiguration Talent placed by Transfiguration Professor Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore: again, trying to cause separation from sister for reasons unknown _

_Blocked Seer Talent placed by Transfiguration Professor Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore: Did not want Miss McGonagall to know that he was also a seer, nor that he was trying to steer her into an eventual match with current sixth year Orion Black, for reasons unknown _

_Blocked Wandless Magic Talent placed by Transfiguration Professor Albus P.W.B Dumbledore: reasons unknown_

_Blocked Natural Photographic Memory/Speed-reading Ability placed by Transfiguration Professor Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore_

_**(I looked into the rest of her Hogwarts record, and there are several compulsion charms and a few other blocked abilities, including Animagus, as well as multiple recasting of some of the above spells…I've got my conclusions listed at the end of this packet, and I believe you shall come to the same conclusions that Tonks and I have ---Moody.)" **_Severus stopped for a moment before flipping to the next page. "Does anyone wish to comment before we move on?"

Sirius and Remus looked almost ill at the fact that Dumbledore would do that much to an eleven year old, and Minerva was so angry she was unable to speak. Severus skimmed the page. "The next five pages are a listing of the spells he put on Minerva, Eileen Prince Snape, the muggles Tobias Snape, Richard Evans, and Vernon Dursley, Dudley Dursley, the squib Petunia Evans Dursley and several muggle teachers of our Harry. Minerva, if you wish to read this later, feel free, but we don't have as much time as we'd like, and almost all of these spells are either compulsion spells or memory charms. As I read earlier, Moody has read through all of this, and shared his conclusions." Severus skimmed through the next several pages, his normally well controlled emotions getting the best of him. "This is getting ridiculous. Not only did he mess with the people I've just listed but also James Potter, Black, Lupin, me, Pettigrew, Lily, Gawain Malfoy, and Alice and Frank Longbottom. The spells he did on us are mostly blocked abilities. The other spells he did were based on emotions that were there already, but we must have been a bit stronger magically at that age than Aurelia, Minerva, Orion Black, and my mother, because nearly all of these spells were overridden by the time we were in fifth year, and he never bothered to make sure they were still working…just assumed they were. Moody must have just went through Albus' record and then cross-referenced." Severus took another deep breath and turned to the next few pages. He threw down the papers in disgust. "That's why we've all been so nasty to each other since Lily died! Dumbledore's been controlling us!"

"What in Merlin's name possessed him to do all of this, you ask?" Severus gestured at the growing stack of already read papers. "He was trying to create the perfect weapon to fight what he foresaw coming. All of us were simply pawns in his huge game of seer chess! Needless to say, there are very few people the age of myself and the age of Harry and his friends that have not been touched by some controlling spell of Dumbledore's! The remaining pages detail the spells he's put on Harry, Ms. Granger, various Weasleys, and Neville Longbottom. If none of you have a problem with it, I'm going to skip directly to Moody's conclusions. We will go through those pages with the Weasleys later. It is absolutely necessary if we are going to come out on the winning side of this." Severus' dark eyes blazed. It was that moment, when the other three in the room greatly appreciated the fact that Severus was on their side.

"I will read what Moody has to say, Severus. I think you need a rest before you drive yourself mad." Minerva was much better at controlling her anger, and she did not want Severus to let off some kind of dangerous accidental magic, which could happen when a very powerful wizard like Severus got angry.

While Severus was trying to control his anger, Sirius had come much closer to losing control, and had changed into his animagus form. Remus was openly spewing words that Minerva, Severus, and Sirius had never even heard before, let alone thought that they would be hearing them coming from the usually calm and collected werewolf.

Minerva began reading. "_This is what I've come up with and what I think we need to do:_

_--inform the Weasleys and remove any charms/spells on them and Ms. Granger _

_--get Harry from the Dursleys and inform him of the situation no later than two days from now_

_--Tonks, Shacklebolt, and I will find Gawain Malfoy…Tonks already has a very promising lead on him_

_--Confront Dumbledore_

_--Make sure Harry is properly trained, because he's the one that's going to get rid of Voldemort, and off the so-called Dark Idiot within the next two years…if we have to pull he and his friends out of Hogwarts and train them ourselves so be it_

_I will discuss other, less important details with you when we come to Headquarters tonight. Have your wands handy when you tell the Weasleys…CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" _

"We've got a lot of work to do. We are going to win. The fate of the entire wizarding world rests upon our shoulders." 


	5. Chapter 5:A New Avenue

"Molly, is Arthur going to be here soon? There's something we need to discuss with you two, Ronald, Hermione, and Ginny immediately." Remus looked her straight in the eyes, trying to impress upon her the gravity of this situation.

The Weasley matriarch was immediately sent into a frenzy of worry, though she tried not to show it. "He just got here. What do you need to tell us, Remus?" She asked as they walked toward the kitchen, where the children were eating dinner.

"Recent events have caused us to re-evaluate our trust in a certain headmaster. We've recently come across some documents that you need to see and act upon. I will not tell you more until everyone is assembled in the kitchen and we have put up the proper charms," Severus answered for the werewolf, as he had become the leader of the "save-Harry-from-manipulating-Headmasters-and-crazy-relatives group".

Severus' eyes swept over the teens, who were currently engaged in what seemed to be a stimulating discussion on why Quidditch was better than muggle sports. He didn't want to ruin their happiness, but reality was more important than happiness at this point. Arthur, it appeared, had just come in and was nibbling on a sandwich. He looked up as the other adults slowly filed into the kitchen.

"Children, Arthur, we need to speak with you about a rather urgent matter. Please pay attention." Minerva looked sternly at the three teens at the table and then took a seat next to Arthur. As soon as Sirius and Severus had completed the spells that would let them know if anyone came into the house, the two men sat on opposite sides of Minerva.

"What do you know about Harry's mother?" Severus looked at each of them. Had Hermione been keeping quiet information that she had known for years? By the look on her face, he knew that she was about to launch into a very long and detailed explanation on Lily's entire bloodline. "Go ahead, Ms. Granger. I can see that you know much more than you've been letting on."

"Firstly, her name was really Liliana Aurelia McGonagall Black-Malfoy, and she wasn't a muggleborn like almost everyone thinks she was…" Ron listened intently as she rambled on, with a few words here and there from Severus, Sirius, and Minerva about the Malfoy situation and why it was absolutely essential that they help Harry as soon as possible.

"Thank you, Ms. Granger. I have no idea where you got your facts from, but they were correct. We have recently discovered that Albus Dumbledore has been manipulating several events in the fairly recent past. This involved blocking the natural abilities of several children, beginning with Aurelia McGonagall, Lily's mother, and continuing on to today. The spells that he's either placed or tried to place on the people in this room are listed in the papers that Remus has just handed to you. It is important to make sure that every single spell is removed tonight, so that we are all at full power when we remove Harry from his relatives care. We'll begin with Arthur." Severus inclined his head toward the slightly shocked man. "Are there any spells on your parchment that have not been broken or cancelled?"

Arthur shook his head. "The only active spells are the Unbreakable Vows that all Ministry employees are required to make upon accepting a job. I'm clean."

Next was Molly, who was now angry. Very Angry. "I have three different compulsion spells, a fertility spell, and a blocked Affinity for Plants ability." Her eyes scanned down the list. "And four Obliviates, all placed by Albus." She looked completely disgusted.

"Arthur, if you could take care of those spells upstairs, it would be appreciated. It would probably be best if Molly was not in here when we get to your children. This house is rather old you know." Minerva headed off any possibility of Molly releasing wild magic in the kitchen, where it could be potentially dangerous when fueled by as much anger as she felt. Arthur nodded and he and Molly headed out of the kitchen despite vehement protesting by Molly.

"I've got a blocked Affinity for Charms, a Dark Attraction Charm, and blocked Transfiguration Talent." Ginny snorted. "The Dark Attraction Charm explains a lot, doesn't it?"

"Your whole first year could have been avoided! That man deserves…"No one got to hear exactly what Hermione thought Dumbledore deserved because Minerva sent a silencing spell at her.

"Being agitated will not help you when we take the spells off of you, Ms. Granger. Please collect yourself."

"Ginny, come with me. It might be the night after the full moon, but Lily and I didn't study how to get rid of semi-dark spells for nothing." Remus and Ginny left the kitchen, leaving only the two almost-fifth-years, Minerva, Severus, and Sirius.

"Blocked Speed Reading/Photographic Memory, blocked Animagus, blocked Affinity for Plants and eleven Compulsion Charms. That's insane," Ron muttered.

"Sirius, you've got experience with removing Compulsion Charms, don't you?" Minerva asked, clearly trying to get Sirius and Ron to leave so that she and Severus could question Hermione alone.

Thankfully, Sirius caught on to what Minerva wanted and he and Ron left.

"Before we remove the several Compulsion Charms, blocked Animagus, and blocked Affinity for Animals that we know you have, we'd like to know if you have any suggestions on how we should proceed. If you think it would be wise to pursue getting Severus and Sirius completely cleared of all previously alleged wrongdoing…" Minerva looked at Hermione. She knew that the girl would have some opinions on what they should do, and felt that they should at least listen to what she had to say.

"Our side would have a lot more freedom to work against Dumbledore and Voldemort if we had experienced wizards like Sirius and Professor Snape able to do things out in the open. Is there someone at the Ministry, though I know it's unlikely, considering Fudge is the minister,that would have an open mind about our situation and would be willing to listen to what we have to say before taking one glance and throwing the two of them back in Azkaban?"

Severus and Minerva looked at each other. "Amelia Bones," they said together.

At this point, anything was worth a shot.


	6. Chapter 6: Love and Hate

Severus woke up with a shooting pain in his arm. He looked at the clock. It was 1:30 in the morning, just a few hours after he'd finally fallen asleep. Voldemort calling at this hour was never good news. Severus threw on his Death Eater robes knocked on Sirius' door. He knew Sirius would be up, because he knew Sirius hadn't slept well since Azkaban. "Black, I'm being summoned. If I'm not back by the time Amelia Bones gets here, I'm probably dead."

"Alright. Good luck, Snape." Sirius' sleepy voice answered through the thick door and a pillow or two.

After apparating to what he termed as "the Lair", Severus tried very hard not to think about the possible reasons for this meeting, most of them including Harry. "Nice of you to join us, Severus… I've brought my nephew for a little visit."

Severus' heart nearly stopped. Lucius only had one nephew. Severus didn't trust himself not to kill Lucius right then and there, even though no one really would have minded, so he merely nodded and tried to get to wherever Harry was as quickly as he could. He found Harry crumpled on the floor of the large meeting room, surrounded by a circle of Death Eaters, curses being thrown at him from every angle. Severus tried to estimate how long Harry had been there, since Harry wouldn't have gone down without a fight, and he was unconscious already.

The possibilities for Severus to save Harry and still make it out of the house alive were minimal. He'd have to take a chance. When a Crucio came flying at Harry from Voldemort himself, Severus made his move. He swiftly moved into the center of the circle, took the surprisingly light almost fifteen year old in his arms, and ran, dodging AK curses, Crucios and several other spells that he'd only read about.

"You're going to meet the same end as his mother, Snape," Malfoy shouted as Severus finally reached the apparition point.

"Good. I always wanted an honorable death."

* * *

Harry whimpered in Severus' arms as Severus landed on the top step at Grimmauld Place. "You're not allowed to die on me, Harry."

Minerva, Sirius, and Remus were waiting at the door. "Harry's been…" Minerva took one look at her great-nephew and ran to the nearest fireplace to floo the Hogwarts Mediwitch. Sirius and Remus followed Severus into the sitting room, where the Potions Master gently set his godson on the couch.

"Lupin, I need two vials of Anti-Crucio potion, a Blood-Replenisher, and the strongest pain relief potion I've got. The potions will be in the locked cabinet in my room. The usual unlocking charms will open it. Black, as soon as Poppy gets here, you and I are going to pay a visit to the Dursleys. We need to know what happened tonight. I don't know if…" Severus didn't have to finish his sentence for Sirius to know exactly what he was going to say.

Sirius swallowed. "What did they do to him?"

"I saw several illegal curses that, even growing up in a family as dark as yours, I'm positive you've never even heard of, a few Crucios, and some milder pain causing curses," Severus' voice cracked in an unusual display of emotion as he poured the potions, which Remus had brought in record time, down Harry's throat.

Poppy's eyes were wide when she saw Harry. "What happened to him, Severus?"

"You're going to have to do a full scan on him, Poppy. I don't know exactly what hit him. There were at least four or five Crucios, and five or six stinging hexes. There were several spells that I've never seen the effects of before. I gave him two Anti-Crucio potions, a Blood-Replenisher, and the strongest pain-relief potion I could find."

"I'll do my best. We can't risk bringing him to St. Mungo's. Not with Voldemort back." Poppy started working right away.

"Minerva, Remus, could you please wake Molly and Arthur up? Black and I are going to Privet Drive to see if we can piece together how Lucius Malfoy got to Harry." Severus was having difficulty keeping his emotions under control, but he was doing much better than Minerva, who was sobbing in Remus' arms.

The two dark haired men were not going to chance apparition with their emotions so out of whack, so they decided to floo to one of the only places that they could floo from Grimmauld Place: Arabella Figg's house. She was used to people popping in and out of the house at odd hours, so she never even noticed them.

"Do you think he'll make it, Snape?" Sirius said quietly as they made the trek from the Figg house to the Dursley's.

"I wish I knew an answer to that, Black. I really do." As they neared Number 4, Severus noticed a man with long, silvery blond hair standing in the yard. He knew that it couldn't be Lucius, because there would be no reason for Lucius to stand in the yard.

"The wards on this house are quite interesting. They're set to let in only my son's family members and magical persons that are not doing physical harm to him. Too bad that old coot didn't think about my brother when he put these up."  
Sirius snorted. "I believe he was thinking of your brother when he put these up. He wanted Lucius to be able to take Harry from the muggles. Must have thought it would be better for him to live with some magical family instead of them."

The silver haired man turned toward Sirius. "What do you mean he's grown up with muggles? I was under the impression that he had grown up with you."

"It's a bit hard to raise a child if you're in Azkaban, Malfoy."

Gawain's eyes widened. "I have a feeling that there's a lot that I don't know."

"You've got that right. Now is not the place for that though." Severus led the way into the house. "Petunia, if you're able, meet us down here. We need to know what happened to Harry."

A frazzled-looking Petunia Dursley appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. "Severus…Sirius, I had a feeling you two would show up here. If I tell you everything, will you promise that Harry will not have to come back? He isn't safe here."  
"We'll do everything we can."

Slowly, Petunia began her story, and like everything else Sirius and Severus had heard in the past days, it completely shocked them.

A/n: Sorry about the long wait between chapters... I've been watching the Olympics during the time I normally write, so...and school starts on Tuesday for me, so that will change my updating frequency. I should get at least one more chapter out by Friday, though!


	7. Chapter 7:Story of a Life

"Dumbledore first came to me in the summer of 1980. He told me about Lily's new baby, I don't remember what Harry's name is supposed to be, but it was rather long. I had no idea who Dumbledore was talking about half of the time, because he kept muttering odd phrases to himself. I recognized your names in his mutterings, a Severus here, or a Sirius there, and an occasional Malfoy thrown in. He told me that he was going to make sure that my sister and James Potter would be dead by the end of the next year." Petunia paused to sip her tea. It was quite obvious to both Sirius and Severus that Petunia had been waiting for years to tell someone this story, but hadn't had the opportunity. "He put several spells on me; I think one of them was a type of negativity spell or something. I would never have been as nasty to Harry as I was. He was the only thing I had left of my mother, because he was part of Lily, and Lily was so much like our mother."

"Is there anything else you know about Dumbledore? We need to know as much as possible." Severus was having trouble staying calm, though he knew it was essential that he do so.

"I told him, right after he mentioned putting Harry, who was only a few hours old at the time, in my care, that he would be much better off with one of his magical relatives. Vernon never did like my sister, and I knew that any child of hers wouldn't be welcomed either. It was then that he muttered something about the three of you needing to be taken care of because you were much too powerful together."

"No kidding. Was one of the spells he put on us a forced animosity spell, Snape?"

Severus nodded. "Yes. We broke through it earlier today. Petunia, can you tell us anything about tonight? Harry's life is in extreme danger at the moment."

"It was around eleven… I was just getting ready for bed when I heard rustling in the hall. I knew it wouldn't have been Dudley, because he's spending the night at a friend's house, in London. Harry had gone to bed several hours earlier because he apparently wasn't feeling well. I didn't want to draw attention to myself, because if it was someone magical, I wouldn't have a chance. The bedroom door was open a bit, and I could see a tall man with silvery blond hair." Petunia looked suspiciously at Gawain.

"It wasn't me. My brother, Harry's uncle, is a very nasty person, who would not have hesitated to kill you had he known where you were. I'm quite surprised that he didn't look."

"I heard him mention that he was blood related to Harry, as were the two women he brought with him. I couldn't see them, but I believe they called each other Bella and Cissy. Lily had cousins named that didn't she? If I remember, Bella was dark and sort of pretty and liked to pull legs off of spiders and step on ants."

"That's them. She's moved from killing bugs to killing people these days. She just escaped from prison."

"They went quietly into Harry's room and must have cursed him or something, because he started screaming. That's it." Petunia folded her hands and looked expectantly at Severus.

"Thank you, Petunia. We're going to take Harry's things, and as soon as we're settled at Headquarters, we'll send someone over here to put up stronger protection spells so that you don't get anymore unwanted magical guests."

"Where are we going, Sirius?" Severus whispered as Sirius led them down several different streets.

"I never thought I'd ever hear you call me by my first name, Snape."

"Well, you are Lily's brother. You must have at least one redeeming quality."

Gawain smiled at the exchange. "Lily brought out the best in everyone."

Sirius suddenly stopped and pulled the other two into a dark alley. "We were being followed, but I think we've lost them."

Severus looked at Gawain. "How are you at Defensive spells, Malfoy? If I recall, you excelled at them in school."

"I'm head of Aurors for the French Ministry of Magic."

"So you're competent, then." Severus stuck out his non-wand arm. "Take my arm. You don't know where we're apparating to, and Sirius has had patchy apparition skills since he got out of Azkaban."

"I'll have you know…"

"Save it, please. We need to get back to Harry."

* * *

When Minerva met them at the door, the three men knew something was seriously wrong with Harry. Her usually perfect, well-kept hair was flying in all different directions from helping Poppy, and her eyes were red from crying. "She says that there is a distinct possibility that…" She couldn't continue, and that was enough for them to know what was going on. Severus and Sirius practically flew toward the sitting room. Minerva took Gawain by the arm. "I'm glad they found you, Gawain. I hope that you'll get a chance to get to know him. He's a wonderful boy."

There wasn't a dry eye in the sitting room. Arthur had his arms around an inconsolable Molly, and the twins each had an arm around Ginny. The most heart-wrenching scene, however, was that of Ron and Hermione. Ron was sitting on the floor, next to the couch, his head in his hands. Hermione's arms were wrapped around his shaking shoulders, and she was trying desperately not to cry. Poppy looked up at Harry's godfathers. "I'm sorry. There were so many charms on him, blocking his natural magic. Remus, Minerva, and I managed to remove them all. There was a glamour charm on him, as you can tell. It seems he takes after his father's side." That much was obvious, since the boy who could once have passed for James Potter's identical twin now had ice blond hair, was much taller, and had the traditional 

Malfoy features. Poppy's eyes met Severus' angry ones. "Do you know what the worst of it was though? There was a spell magnification charm on him. That…"  
"…Multiplies the effect of any spell with malicious intent by ten. Was that another Dumbledore spell?" The anger in Severus' voice was enough to send shivers down Poppy's spine. At that moment, she was very glad that she was fighting with him and not against him.

"Most of them were from Dumbledore, Severus. The four Crucios, two burn hexes, three bruising hexes and one especially nasty curse to his leg that made it necessary for me to vanish the bone and give him Skele-grow were the only ones not cast by Dumbledore. We checked his records."

Severus stalked about the room, while Sirius plunked down next to Remus. "Do you want to know what else we found out, Moony?"

"Probably not." Sirius signaled for Severus to tell him.

"Dumbledore, not Voldemort is the one that wanted to make sure James and Lily died. Petunia told us that he came to her right after Harry was born and said as much."

Gawain took this opportunity to fill in the blanks in what he knew. "Severus, I realize this isn't the best time, but could you, or someone else if you'd rather, tell me exactly what's going on here?"

"Sit down. It's a long story, Malfoy. Several things came to light earlier this week. It all started with a meeting of the Order of the Phoenix. You should recall what that is, since you were a member during the first war. Dumbledore told us that your brother had just put in a request to the Ministry for custody of Harry. Then the headmaster proceeded to tell us that he was going to let it go through because it would be a good thing for Harry to be around family."

"…who happen to be a bunch of Voldemort-loving lunatics," Sirius and Gawain muttered at the same time. "Why?"

"That's what we wanted to know, so we had a few of our trusted Auror friends do some research for us. They found more than forty-five pages of illegal spells that Dumbledore performed on several members of Harry's extended family, starting with Lily's parents. That's where the real story starts."

Minerva took over for Severus. "He blocked the natural abilities of my sister, Severus' mother, Sirius and Lily's father, and several of my students in order to manipulate us all into his master plan. Albus is a Seer you know, and he saw that Harry would eventually be the one to defeat Voldemort once and for all. So instead of letting things happen he organized everything himself." The fact that Minerva was still quite angry at Albus' manipulation of her family was obvious in the way that her Scottish upbringing was making itself evident in her voice.

Remus chimed in. "That man spelled almost every Gryffindor in our year, plus you," he looked at Gawain, "and Severus. The only difference between us and the people Minerva talked about is that we broke through the spells. That's why you ended up with Lily, despite all of Dumbledore's efforts to get 

her to really marry James. She loved him, but not like that. Dumbledore still managed to keep you away, though, didn't he?"

Gawain nodded. "Every time I tried to visit Lily and Harry, that man sent me somewhere on some pointless mission. Thankfully, Minerva kept me updated. She always made sure to tell me about something cute Harry did, milestones he passed, and always kept me well supplied with pictures. Those visits from her were the only thing that kept me focused on staying alive."

"Do you even know what happened after Lily died or did he," Sirius didn't need to specify who "he" was because everyone knew "he" was Albus, "make sure you knew nothing?"

"I didn't even know she died until 1985. Dumbledore sent me to a completely muggle village in northern Canada, and Minerva's mail didn't get through to me until then. All I know is that Voldemort killed her, but couldn't kill Harry."

"I've never told anyone the exact details of what I saw then. However, I think you all need to hear the truth." Severus sat down near Harry. "That night, Voldemort took just two people with him. One of them had strong connections to Lily, me, and the other, strong connections with James. Had you not been recovering from a nasty case of dragon pox, Malfoy, my guess is that you would have been there instead of me. I'm glad you weren't. If I would have known what was going to happen, I would have run. Pettigrew, since he was the secret keeper, led the way there. The second we stepped foot on the property, Voldemort stunned me." Severus paused. "Here, I am going to tell you all something that only two other people know, that is, if Voldemort and Pettigrew still count as people after what they've done. James wasn't killed by Voldemort. Peter killed him first. Before he died, James tried to reverse the stunners I was under, but Voldemort wouldn't let him." It took Severus, Remus, Minerva, and Ron to keep Sirius from charging out the door and seeking out Peter. "Then Voldemort levitated me up the stairs and forced me to watch him kill the best friend I ever had. As soon as I could I apparated to Sirius' apartment and told him what happened. I knew Harry was still alive, but there was no way I could apparate both him and myself to Sirius' place. I just made sure he was wrapped in a warm blanket and set him in the remains of his crib."

"As soon as Severus arrived at my flat, I sped off on my motorbike with every intention of taking my nephew home with me. All I wanted was to make sure he was safe. Hagrid was there when I arrived, though I, to this day, have no idea how he got there so fast. He wouldn't give Harry to me; told me Harry would be better off going to Hogwarts. I didn't argue with that, I figured Hagrid was going to give him to Minerva. Then I went after Peter. When I finally cornered him, he shouted that I'd betrayed Lily and James, cut off his finger and transformed into his animagus form. He ran off into the sewer, while I got carted off to Azkaban."

Ron looked up at Gawain. "He was our pet rat for thirteen years. If I would've known, I would have let Hermione's cat eat him. He slept in my bed!"

"Once I found out that Albus was going to put Harry with Petunia, I watched there family all day. My pleas to give Harry to me, that he'd be better off with magical relatives, went unheeded by Albus." Minerva shook her head.

Gawain had tears streaming down his face even before Hermione, Ron, the twins and Ginny told him how Harry lived at the Dursleys and about all of the challenges of his Hogwarts years. After hours of talk, the children were hoarse, and everyone jumped when they heard a knock at the door.

Minerva got up to see who it was. It had to be an Order member. "Sirius, Severus, Gawain, it's Amelia Bones. Take her to the kitchen, and get everything straightened out so that Harry can have a proper family when he wakes up."

No one corrected her when she said when, because they all sincerely hoped that Harry was going to make it. He had to.

Author's Note: This chapter will probably be the last chapter for at least a week, because school starts on Tuesday, and that's going to eat up a significant chunk of my free time. On the upside, this is a very long chapter for me, and I have a lot of the story written already.


	8. Chapter 8:Power to Fight

The three wizards walked with Amelia to the kitchen, making sure to give her some of the excellent tea that Molly had made that morning. "When I talked to Minerva last night, she informed me that you were seeking custody of Harry Potter," she looked at the three, who nodded, "and that the two of you were seeking to clear your records so that you can help raise Mr. Potter and do more work for the Order of the Phoenix. I must say that I am quite surprised to see you here, Head Auror Malfoy."

"You'll see the reason once you open Harry's custody file, Madame Bones." The four sat at the kitchen table. Amelia tapped the piece of paper she had brought with her.

"Let's see..." she read aloud, "_The complete files of Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy_." A look of realization dawned on her face. "_Mother of the underage wizard: Liliana Aurelia McGonagall Black-Malfoy, pureblood, murdered 31 October 1981 by Tom Riddle, also known as Lord Voldemort. Father: Gawain Gideon Abraxas Malfoy, pureblood, currently employed by the French Ministry of Magic as Head Auror." _She skimmed the rest of the information. "It seems, Head Auror Malfoy, that you should have been given sole custody of your son at the moment of your wife's murder. The files say that Albus Dumbledore blatantly violated the wills of both your wife and James Potter by putting your son with your wife's sister, who filed a request with the Ministry keep the child away from her as her muggle husband had shown a potentially dangerous aversion to magic. I would recommend filing a claim against Headmaster Dumbledore."

"We're going to do that eventually, Madame Bones, but at this time, we have more important issues to attend to," Severus sighed.

Amelia nodded, and tapped her piece of parchment once again, this time bringing up Gawain's background information. "You are in good standing with both the French and British Ministries of Magic, despite your brother's involvement with Voldemort. I assume that you have enough money and a suitable dwelling in which to raise your son?"

"That goes without saying. My mother and grandparents make sure I always have several million galleons, though I don't ever use much. I also get paid quite well by the French."

"Do you love your son, Head Auror Malfoy?" Amelia had to ask, it was a required question in custody cases.  
"If I would have been allowed to take care of him when Lily died, we wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation, because Harry would be happy and safe in Paris, surrounded by the same loving people that surround him now. Of course I love him." There was a distinct sadness in Gawain's voice. Severus had to look away from Amelia for a moment so that she wouldn't notice that his dark eyes showed the same sadness.

"I declare the underage wizard Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy to be in the sole custody of his father, Gawain Gideon Abraxas Malfoy. This custody is fully legal and cannot be contested by anyone, especially Lucius Malfoy and Albus Dumbledore."A white light enveloped the parchment. "Your brother shall be receiving notification of the denial of his adoption claim within the next few hours."

"Thank you, Madame Bones. This means a lot to all of us." Gawain shook her hand and went back to join the group in the sitting room.

Remus looked at Gawain with tired eyes. None of them, with the exception of Ginny, who was leaning on George's shoulder, had slept since Severus had set Harry on the couch several hours earlier. "Please tell me that you've got him."

Gawain sat on the other end of the couch that the werewolf occupied. "I did. Harry will never have to go back to the Dursleys again. I own a large house in Paris, with a huge yard, great for playing Quidditch," Gawain sighed. "I think it would be best if we move Harry there as soon as possible, that way Dumbledore can't get near him."

Ron spoke up from where he still sat on the floor. "Harry would love a yard where he could play Quidditch. He was the youngest Hogwarts seeker in a century, you know."

"I'm glad you think so. You would all stay there with us, of course. I have a direct floo connection to the British and French Ministry buildings, and it is much safer than your home would be, Molly, Arthur, seeing as Pettigrew knows exactly where you live. I also quite doubt that Sirius wants to spend much more time in this house. He hated it here when he was a kid, and that awful portrait of his mother hasn't shut up since I walked in. Honestly, the only real 'blood-traitors' in this house are Sirius and I, since he ran away and I refuse to talk to my brother. Muggleborns, no matter what that stupid woman ever said, are wonderful people who are usually very powerful." Gawain looked at Remus. "And do you know what, Remus? I like werewolves, too. We employ several in our Auror department in Paris and I have no doubts that you could find a well paying job there. No one in France cares whether a person turns into a wolf every month or not."

"Well said, Mal--Gawain. I certainly would not mind moving out of this place." Sirius plunked himself down in between Remus and Gawain. "It turns out that since the Ministry didn't give me a fair trial, they shouldn't have declared me a fugitive in the first place. SO…I'm all cleared now."

A few minutes later, Severus came out of the kitchen, declaring that if anyone wanted to get to Harry now, the person would die before Harry was even touched. After that, they came up with a schedule for "Harry-watching." Each group of four or five would take an eight hour shift at Harry's bedside. The groups were going well, until Ron pointed out that the only five left were the two Marauders, the twins, and Poppy.

"Are you sure that's such a good idea, putting the twins with those two, Hermione? They don't need anymore prank ideas , and we all, well most of us anyway, know about what Professor--"  
"Remus, Ron, Remus. I'm not your professor anymore." Remus couldn't keep the grin off of his face. Fred and George were going to go crazy.

"Sorry. We all know what Remus and Sirius got up to at school." Ron crossed his arms.

"What exactly did they do at school, oh dearest little brother?"

"I'm not going to tell you. They've given you clues, you know."

The twins thought for a moment before identical looks of realization dawned on their faces.

"You and you are the…"The two gasped. "THE MARAUDERS??"

"Merlin help us." Minerva threw up her hands in exasperation. "This year is going to be worse than ever."

A/n: Sorry it took me so long to update...school has taken over my life. Why, you ask? Because instead of taking all easier classes like most American high school seniors do, I'm taking a slew of difficult classes. It's rather fun though, so I'm not complaining, there's just a lot of homework. PLEASE REVIEW!!


	9. Chapter 9:You Have no Power Here

"You know, Hermione, I'm kind of surprised that Dumbledore hasn't shown up here. It's been five days since Harry's dad got custody of him."  
"I've been wondering about that too, Ron. Every time someone comes through the floo when I'm in the kitchen, I think it could be him." Hermione rested her elbows on the massive book she had propped up in her lap. Despite the fact that their watch was late at night, she still had a book.

"I wouldn't put it past that sneaky old man to have been here already without us noticing, but Sirius has some very good detection spells on this place." Gawain stretched out in the large blue chair that Sirius had purchased from an owl order catalogue. Though the adults had worked on cleaning up Grimmauld Place, everyone was ready to move as soon as Poppy gave the go-ahead. Harry still hadn't regained consciousness, but Poppy was more optimistic about his chances.

Suddenly, a loud buzzing noise filled everyone's ears. "That would be the Dumbledore detector. Do not, I repeat, do not let that man anywhere near my son. If you have to use magic, do it. I can always clear that up later." Gawain rushed off to the kitchen, while Hermione, Ginny, and Ron made sure their wands were ready to go.

"Make one move out of this kitchen and we will not hesitate to stun you or worse, Dumbledore." Severus' commanding voice would have been enough to make any less powerful wizard turn right around and never come back.

"I don't really think such a threatening tone is necessary, Severus. Minerva, make them see that I only want to do what's best for everyone. For the greater good, you know."

"Blocking the natural abilities of first years and younger is not for the greater good, Albus. Allowing my niece and James to die wasn't for the greater good. Separating Harry from the only magical biological family he has wasn't for the greater good either." Minerva looked the Headmaster straight in his angry blue eyes. It was almost scary how calm she could be.

"Offering to put my son in the care of Death Eaters wasn't for the greater good. And don't you dare say that Severus and I are Death Eaters, Dumbledore, not when you're the one who put our mothers under compulsion charms so that you would make sure that we'd join. We never wanted to serve that psychopath. Gawain's silver eyes flashed dangerously. If Severus was the most dangerous person in the room, it was acknowledged that Gawain was second most.

Despite Dumbledore's attempted insistence that they "see reason," not one of the wizards or witches in the kitchen put their wands away. " I can see that you all are unwilling to be reasonable here. Perhaps I can show you my reasons some other time, once Harry is well and in the care of more stable individuals like his uncle Lucius."

Gawain, Sirius, and Severus closed in on Albus, wands out. "If you think that Lucius Malfoy is a stable individual, than you need to get your head examined at St. Mungo's. Leave now."

Albus radiated anger. He knew that the wizards surrounding him would be more than enough to over power him, not to mention that they had equally powerful backups in Minerva, Poppy, Molly, Arthur, Remus, Fred and George. He left with one final glare.

"Poppy, do you think it's safe enough to move Harry?" Severus looked at Gawain, who wholeheartedly agreed with him. "I do not think we should take anymore risks."

"When I checked him earlier, he seemed nearly back to normal except for his magic levels, which are sky high because of all the blocks we removed. His leg should be healed by the time he wakes up. We can move him as soon as all of you transfer your belongings."

As Gawain didn't have any belongings at Grimmauld Place, he went back to the sitting room. "I know it's rather late at night, but we're moving tonight. You can go pack your things. Don't worry about my house, Hermione. I have a overflowing library and I treat my house elves with respect."  
"Thank Merlin for that. Otherwise, you'd never hear the end of it. She'd go on and on about spew." Ron rolled his eyes.

"For the last time, Ronald, it's S.P.E.W. not spew." Gawain and Ginny listened to them argue all the way up to the second floor.

"Do they do that often, Ginny?"

"The proper question would be phrased 'when don't they argue', and the answer would be never. Harry says it's because they like each other and won't admit it."

"Sounds like Lily and I. W were always fairly good friends, our fathers were friendly, and thus she was an acceptable playmate. She was a lot like Hermione and I was more like Ron, though I don't think that I was nearly as blind as he seems to be when it comes to girls."

"That's my dear brother for you." Ginny rushed off to pack her belongings. Soon, there was a large pile of trunks at the bottom of the stairs, along with three owls( Hedwig, Pig, and Errol) and Crookshanks.

"Happy, Skippy, Bertie!" Gawain called. Within minutes, three house elves were standing in front of Gawain.

"What can we be doing for you, Friend Gawain?"

"Please take this luggage to the house. The kneazle should be put as far away from the owlery as possible. Our guests will be staying for at least the remainder of the summer, so please make sure all of the bedrooms are presentable. Thank you, that is all."

The tallest elf, Bertie, the one that was dressed in purple shorts and a tiny bright green t-shirt, snapped his fingers and the luggage was gone. The three elves each took an animal, with Bertie taking both Hedwig and Pig.

"Sirius, are we floo-connected to my house or do we have to go through a pub?"

"I think we're going to have to apparate. Floo connections in England aren't the safest these days. Severus can apparate with Harry." Sirius looked at Severus to see if that would be okay.

"We will go last, then. I want everyone to be around when Harry gets there just incase there's a problem." Poppy looked at Gawain sternly.

"I'm not going to argue with you. Does everyone remember the way there?" Several heads nodded. Gawain had made sure to take all of those able to apparate so that they'd know where to go. "We'll make the one stop at the Frog Prince. Hermione and I will go first." Gawain took Hermione's arm and they were off.

"This pub isn't a very friendly place this late, but the owner is a good friend of mine so we'll be safe enough. Just keep your wand ready." In the few days he'd spent with Harry's friends, Gawain had started to like the insanely curious girl who reminded him so much of Lily. The two stood in a corner of the pub, watching for the others.

"There's Remus and Professor McGonagall!" Hermione whispered loudly.

"The twins are coming behind us with Sirius. Don't let Minerva see them come in together, because she'd kill me if she knew that the twins and Sirius were apparating together." Remus grinned.

"Secret's safe with me."  
Pretty soon everyone in the group arrived. They were just about to leave the pub when a tall brown-haired man in bright purple robes stopped them. "I need to see your international travel papers."

"Since when do my Aurors check for international travel papers, Pierre?" Gawain raised an eyebrow.

"Eh…Minister Fudge said that we were not allowed to let anyone apparate into France without checking for papers, Head Auror Malfoy."

"Pierre, if you don't let my family and I through, I will be forced to send you on a very long-term assignment to Siberia. I somehow doubt that your new wife would like that very much. I believe she's become rather fond of you." Gawain nodded to Severus, who apparated away, as did the rest of the group, with Hermione going with Remus. "If I ever hear that my Aurors are taking orders from Minister Fudge instead of Minister Claude or myself, you will find yourself out of work. Do I make my self clear, Pierre?"

"Of course, Head Auror Malfoy."

Taking orders from Fudge was one thing. He only hoped that none of his Aurors were taking orders from Voldemort.


	10. Chapter 10:Finally Some Good News

Once every one got settled in Gawain's large house, business went on as usual. Poppy and Severus spent large amounts of time in the basement potion's lab working on a few experimental projects. Hermione spent long hours in the library, and everyone enjoyed getting some sun in the yard.

Remus found a weekend job working at a bookstore and Minerva, unfortunately had gone back to Hogwarts to work on the letters, though she still slept at "Lily Town", as the children had named Gawain's home because of all the lilies he had planted in the yard.

As July 30th turned into July 31st, nearly four weeks after Severus had brought Harry to them, Hermione noticed that Harry had turned over…by himself, after not moving for weeks. Gawain jumped into action mode. "Hermione, get Poppy and tell the Weasleys to gather in the sitting room. Ron, Ginny, tell Sirius to get in here and one of you go get Minerva at Hogwarts. She should be ready to leave by now, but get her anyway."

As soon as Poppy reached Harry's bedroom, out of breath from running up two flights of stairs, she whipped out her wand to begin checking him over. Minerva arrived soon after her. "He should be awake. His magic levels are still far above where they should be for a boy his age, but then again, he's got extremely powerful parents." She sat on the edge of Harry's bed and gently nudged his arm. "Harry, could you open your eyes for us? No one is going to hurt you here. I promise."

First one emerald eye opened, then the other. "Glasses." Sirius handed Harry his glasses and some water. After he got a few sips with Poppy's help, she pulled out several vials filled with various potions.

"You'll like these, Harry. Severus made them taste like chocolate." Harry raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Moony said that it really does taste like chocolate. And who are we to argue with him on his favorite food?" Sirius grinned.

That coaxed a smile out of Harry, who downed all eight of the potions Poppy gave him. She helped him sit up so that he could drink some more water out of the bright green straw that Severus had conjured.

"We're going to ask you a few questions now, to see exactly what was going on while you were unconscious. Do you know what your full name is?"

"Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy." Poppy's eyebrows shot up.

"Do you know what today is?"

"My birthday."

"Could you hear everything that we said while you were in an unconscious state?" Harry nodded.

"Do you want someone to stay in here with you until you fall asleep again?" Severus asked. Harry nodded again, and pointed his finger at Severus, Gawain, Sirius and Minerva.

* * *

Harry slept most of the next few days, but he was feeling well enough to attend a small birthday party on August 7th. After a wonderful dinner made by Molly and the house elves, everyone gave Harry his presents.

"This is from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill and Charlie," Hermione read the tag before handing the package to Harry.

Harry squeezed it. "It's squishy!" He carefully tore the Quidditch themed paper to reveal a quilt. This wasn't just any quilt, though. One side was made of soft black, red, green, and gold patches with the Black family crest in the middle, while the other side was made of a shiny green material and had the Malfoy crest in the middle.

"The green parts are Welsh Green- Egyptian Fireball skin. Bill said that they were having so many problems with her that they had to put her down and they gave him the skin. It's spell resistant."

"Hermione went on and on about how practical that was, but I think it's wicked cool." Ron threw another package at Harry, who despite not being one hundred percent well caught it deftly.

"Ronald! That was uncalled for!" Harry sensed an argument coming on, not that his two best friends arguing would be anything new to him.

"Hermione, Ron was just making sure that I'm ready for Quidditch this year." Harry looked at Ron. "Did I pass, Ron?"

"You passed. Now open my present!" Harry hurriedly tore the orange paper off of Ron's present. It turned out to be a neon green t-shirt saying "Go Gryffindor" in letters that changed from red to gold to orange to purple to silver.

Harry raised an eyebrow at Ron. "Shouldn't a Gryffindor shirt be red, Ron?"

"Well, yeah, but Ginny said that the green would look better with your eyes, and she paid for half. I wasn't going to argue with her." Ron shuddered at the thought. "And mate, please don't do that eyebrow thing. You look like Professor Snape."

Severus looked at his godson's best friend. "Is there something wrong with that, Mr. Weasley?"

"No sir."

Harry received "How to Deal with Nasty Relatives" from Hermione, and "1000 Ways to Annoy Hogwarts Professors: Marauder Style", which Fred and George were quick to point out was also from them.

"I could confiscate that right now, but I think I'll just settle for taking 150 points off of Gryffindor as soon as possible," Severus smirked.

"WHAT?!" Every current and former Gryffindor, including the Head of House, turned to look at Severus.

"I was joking."

"There's a first time for everything, I suppose," Sirius muttered.

"I'm going to give you your gift from me now so that I do not act upon my urge to smack your uncle in the head, as I know that you are, for some unknown reason, rather fond of him." Severus handed Harry a long, thin box. Harry opened the box to find a dark green cloak with black velvet trimmings. The Malfoy and Black crests adorned the two buttons at the neck.

"This is really nice, Uncle Severus," ever since he had woken up, he had been calling him that, "I love the color. "  
"The shopkeeper told me that I had excellent taste in clothing and that I should use it a bit more for myself." Severus rolled his eyes at the absurd thought of himself wearing anything but black.

Harry laughed. "I certainly never associated you with good taste in clothing, sir."

"Cheeky brat. I wasn't going to let my favorite godson go around wearing that tattered cloak he wore last year. You've grown several inches since then, at any rate."

"I noticed. I'm actually taller than Ron now."

"That's a feat in itself." Minerva handed Harry a small package wrapped in golden paper.

"I bet this is a book."

"I've heard that that's what all of the cool great-aunts are buying their great-nephews these days."

"I see." Harry's jaw dropped when he saw what book it was." YOU BOUGHT ME "HOW TO MASTER YOUR INNNER ANIMAL"?" Harry looked at his father. "Does this mean she's going to teach me how to be an animagus?"

"Do you think I would have let her buy you that book if I wasn't okay with it, Harry?"

Harry jumped up and gave his aunt the biggest hug he'd ever given anyone in his life.

* * *

Later that night, after all of the presents had been put away, and they had all feasted on Molly's excellent cake, Minerva passed out their Hogwarts letters.

"I bet you a galleon that Harry and Hermione are the prefects, Ron," Fred whispered.

"That would be a really stupid bet, since I already know they will be. They both have better grades than I do, and Hermione's been a shoe-in since she stepped on the boat."

Ron turned out to be right. He was happy for them. Later that night, when just Harry and Ron were still up, Harry wanted to make sure that Ron was okay with it.

"Are you sure you're alright with me being a prefect, Ron?"

"Harry, I'm really lazy. You'll be much more dedicated to the task than I ever would be." Ron looked at Harry. "You know, with all the things that are going on this year, there's a good chance that one of us will die this year."  
"Don't think like that, Ron. It wouldn't be you that would die anyway. It would probably be me."

"As true as that may be, Harry. I want you to do something for me, if its me that goes. I want you to take care of Hermione for me, Harry, and I want you to marry Ginny. I've seen the way you two look at each other when you think no one is watching. I know you like her. Give it a chance."

Harry couldn't speak. He put his hand on Ron's shoulder for a moment. "You know, you're much more perceptive than anyone gives you credit for." Harry smiled. "I will try with Ginny when the time is right, and I will take care of Hermione. I know how much she means to you… to both of us."

"Thanks. I just wanted you to know how I felt."


	11. Chapter 11:Off To Hogwarts

"Harry if you don't get up now, we're never going to make the train. Everyone else is ready." Gawain nudged the sleeping teen.  
"It's still dark outside."  
"You have your blanket over your head, son."Gawain had already packed Harry's belongings, except, of course, for his birthday blanket.

"Fine, I'm getting up." Gawain flicked his wand and Harry's blanket folded itself into Harry's trunk.

"Hermione had a difficult time getting your owl into her cage this morning; I think she likes the freedom."

"Who wouldn't?" Gawain ruffled his son's hair. It took Harry a few minutes, and then he was at the table eating breakfast with everyone else.

"I 'ope 'alfoy 'oosen't…"

"Can't you ever speak at a meal without food in your mouth, Ronald?"

Ron swallowed. "Sorry, 'Mione. I was going to say that I hope Malfoy doesn't show up this year. Can you imagine what kind of stuff he'd say now that he knows Harry's related to him?"

"At least he can't insult my family anymore. We're related on both sides. My mum and Narcissa were cousins, and our fathers are brothers." Harry took a large bite of pancake.

"Not very close brothers, mind you. Lucius was always arrogant and rude. My mother likes me more because I didn't go around spouting off how much money we had or how much purer our blood was…I still don't. We'll go over to Mum and Father's house on Christmas. You'll love her."

"I could use a few more family members who don't want to sell me to Voldemort."

"Lucius sounds a lot like Draco."  
"Definitely a case of the apple not falling far from the tree, Hermione. And why they decided to name their son after the worst of our ancestors in the last two hundred years, I will never understand."

"Wasn't Draco your great-grandfather's great-grandfather? I believe his wife's name was Priscilla."

Everyone turned to look at Hermione. "Do you actually know everything, or does it just seem that way?" Sirius couldn't begin to guess where she'd found out this tidbit of information.

"When I found out that Harry was a Malfoy I researched his family history." Hermione looked at Gawain for confirmation.

"She's right. The first Draco died in 1980 at 185. He was a pompous idiot too. His son, my great-grandfather's grandfather, was killed at age 40 by some dark lord. My great-grandfather's father is still alive. He's around one hundred and thirty. His name is Samuel, and he and his wife Rebecca live in my parents home as do my great-grandparents, Rufus and Athena, they're around 110, and my grandparents, Scorpius and Diana…they're around 90. My parents, Abraxas and Ariana, have a huge house. You'll love meeting all of the old people, Harry. They're so nice. All of the men were well respected Aurors and all of the women are on the International Board of Potions Makers. You've inherited both of these traits, an aptitude for defense and for potions, though the potions aptitude had been blocked for a while."

"Lovely history lesson, Gawain. Here's a tidbit about your mother's family, Harry. Our father's family was exceedingly interbred, he was married to his cousin…don't know why I turned out so well, really…and they followed every single dark lord there's ever been. Your grandmother's family was exceedingly brilliant at Transfiguration and most of them were legitimate future-seeing seers."

Harry loved hearing all of the interesting things about his family.

* * *

Since Harry could walk this time, they decided to floo to London. Molly was feeling a bit under the weather, so Sirius and Gawain, who'd taken a day off, were in charge of taking all six students to the train. They went through the fireplace two by two, trunks, owl cages and all. Gawain rushed the group through the Atrium and outside to catch the Knight Bus to the train station. They were only on a few minutes, but Ron never wanted to ride the thing again.

"I rather liked it, Ron."

"This is coming from the guy who enjoys taking completely vertical dives at 160 miles per hour just to fake out the other seekers," Ginny added.

Gawain raised an eyebrow at his son. "Oh really? How come you never told me that?"

Harry looked sheepish. "I did tell you, Dad. Don't do that eyebrow thing…you look like Uncle Severus." When they got to the platform, Sirius and Gawain gathered the teens around them. "Keep your wands out and make sure to watch and listen for everything. If anything feels remotely wrong find Minerva or Severus." Gawain looked at Harry. "And son, remember that I love you."

"Love you too, Dad." Hermione pulled Harry off toward the Prefects car and Ron spotted Neville and the other Gryffindor boys. "You don't think that you-know-which-relative-of-mine will be a prefect, do you?"

"I really hope not."Unfortunately for them, the one person that they didn't want to see came onto the train right after they did. "Those features look a lot less haughty on you and your father, Harry."

"I noticed."

"Well, well, well…what have we here? My muggle-loving cousin and his pet mudblood. How does it feel to have a name with power and prestige behind it?"

"You tell me. I'm not into all of that pureblood garbage." Draco sneered but couldn't come up with a decent comeback. Most people in the meeting knew who Harry was since his story had been published in the Prophet earlier in the summer. Harry didn't realize it, but he must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew, Hermione was tugging at his sleeve.

"Harry, we've got to go patrol the corridors now."

"Yes mum." Hermione rolled her eyes. Once they had finished their patrol they caught up on summer news with Neville.

"How was your summer?" Neville took in Harry's change appearance.

"Pretty good. We spent most of the time at my dad's huge home in France. He's the head of Aurors there."

"He's not anything like Malfoy's dad, is he? Gran told me they were brothers."

"They're about as alike as Voldemort and Aunt Minerva."


	12. Chapter 12:Hope Against Hope

Hermione poked Harry in the arm the second they entered the Great Hall. "Harry, look up at the Head Table." Harry's jaw dropped the second he saw who was sitting next to Dumbledore.

"I can't believe the nerve of that man. Everyone knows that Lucius is a Death Eater!" Harry whispered loudly. "We've got to talk to Aunt Minerva or Uncle Severus. I don't feel safe anywhere near that miserable excuse for a man."

"Hear, hear. Are you going to try to make eye contact with Professor Snape?"

"If you or Hermione would try to get Aunt Minerva…" Harry looked to the Head Table. Severus mouthed 'I didn't know' to him. Harry was really scared now. "He didn't know…with Dumbledore this far gone, Voldemort will try to get in for sure."

Minerva was just as shocked as they were when she came in with the first years. The sorting went slowly as usual and dinner went even slower. Even Ron, who usually ate half of the food on the table, could only manage to drink a glass of pumpkin juice. Harry and Hermione were focused on trying to figure out what was going on that they didn't even eat that much.

Every eye was on Dumbledore as he stood up to give his usual speech. "As you can see, our open Defense position has been filled by Mr. Lucius Malfoy. I assure you that he will be an excellent addition to our staff." The trio tuned out the rest of his speech.

Hermione, trying desperately to figure out what in the world was going on, looked at the boys. "Do you think he's even acting under his own power? This is highly unusual, even for him."

"St. Mungo's should be notified. I believe they're missing a patient," Ginny muttered.

"Hermione, even You-Know-Who isn't powerful enough to put an Imperio on Dumbledore." Ron looked nervously at the Head Table and back to his friends. "That's the scary thing, isn't it? That he's acting under his own power. At least the Death Eaters are predictable."

"I agree with Ron. I'll bet that even Voldemort is intrigued by this new Dumbledore." When dinner was dismissed, the Seventh Year Prefects took the first years to their dorms, while the Trio, Ginny, Neville, and the twins muttered their plans. "Nev, Ginny, take my cloak and try to get a letter out to my dad. Keep your wands ready." Harry pulled his invisibility cloak from his bag and handed it to them. "Fred, George, we're going to need you to stay in the tower. There aren't that many seventh years who are familiar with what the Headmaster has been doing lately, and someone needs to tell everyone that. We're going to find Uncle Severus. He'll know what to do."

The trio was nearly to Severus' dungeon rooms when they heard a voice behind them. "Where do you think you're going? Gryffindor tower is a long way from here, you know." They didn't have to turn around to know exactly who it was.

"We decided to take the long way, _Professor._"Hermionewanted to spit in Lucius' face, though she restrained herself well.

"I don't want my future ward to be seen sneaking about in places that he doesn't belong in with people he doesn't belong with." Lucius sneered at Ron and Hermione.

"Good thing that I'm never, in a million years, going to be your ward, then, isn't it?" The venom in Harry's voice would have made Voldemort shiver.

"I will be watching you, Harry…I will be watching." As soon as Lucius was out of sight, the three ran toward Severus' door.

"I knew you three would come. You may go and sit with Ginerva and Mr. Longbottom in my sitting room. I'm awaiting further word from Minerva. She's trying to find your father. You will be sleeping here tonight." Ron and Hermione headed down the short hallway, but Severus kept Harry back. He put his hands on Harry's shoulders and looked into his eyes. "We're not going to let them take you, Harry. They'd have to kill all of us first."

"That's exactly what I'm afraid of, Uncle Sev. I don't want anymore people to die because they were trying to save me."

Severus tried desperately to keep his composure. He had a feeling that something horrible would happen tonight, and he wanted Harry to know exactly how much he was loved. "It isn't a horrible thing for someone to die for someone they love, son. You've willingly gone into situations that could have killed you to save your friends. Don't let anyone else not have that privilege. Go on, try to sleep. And, if I may let you in on a secret, Lucius Malfoy scares me just as much as he scares you."

Just as Severus was about to follow his godson to the sitting room, he felt the mirror in his pocket grow warm. He pulled it out to see a concerned Sirius. "Severus, Dumbledore has shut off all communication to Hogwarts. The news just came over the wireless. He's also blocked all entrance ways. There's other news, too. Arthur and Remus have gone missing and Minerva and Gawain haven't responded to the mirror messages I've tried to send."

Severus' mind immediately jumped to the worst possible scenario, which in this case, was a possibility. "You don't think he's trying to eliminate all people close to our godson in an attempt to control him do you, Sirius?"

"I don't know. I wish I did. That's the only conclusion I could come up with. I'd recommend taking Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the Longbottom boy and making a run for it. It's the only thing that's safe. Hogwarts isn't right now."

"I think I will. Thank you, Sirius."

"There's one more thing, Severus, since I don't know what's going to happen from now on…I've always enjoyed your company, and I consider you one of the finest men I know. You always treated my sister with the utmost respect, even when I was a jerk to you. Remember that promise we made to her, you know, the last time we saw her?"

"I remember. I promise you, that if need be I will go down fighting for that boy. He's our only hope, you know."  
"Our only hope, and the one person who held us together, though unknowingly, when we were under so many spells we didn't even know our own thoughts. Good bye, Severus Snape, and good luck." Sirius faded out of the mirror.

Severus put it back into his pocket and headed to the sitting room. The teens were all sleeping, huddled together against the chill of the dungeon. "Children," Severus said gently, watching them rub their eyes, "we need to get out of here as soon as possible. Pack your bags with anything that means something to you. Your belongings are in the other room. When you are done, come back in here."

Ginny looked up at Severus and voice the one fear that everyone had. "Do you think we're going to get out of here alive?"

"I wish I could answer that, Ginerva."He took a deep breath. "Truly, I do."

Within the hour, they were ready to go. "Everyone stay close to me, and please cover your heads. We cannot have anyone knowing who we are. We are going to carefully head out of the castle, and hope against hope that we get a head start on Dumbledore and Malfoy."

A/N: Sorry about the long wait between chapters…school has been absolutely crazy lately. We're officially on Christmas break until the fifth of January, though, so expect at least three more chapters between then and now. REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!!!!


	13. Chapter 13:Evil Will Never Win

Severus led them down a moldy old tunnel. "As soon as you feel it get colder, start running. That means we'll be out of Hogwarts. When you get to the end, stop."

Then they ran for what seemed like years. Hermione was the first to see the light at the end of the tunnel. She, Ron, and Ginny paused while they waited for Severus and Harry, who were helping Neville because he'd twisted his ankle. Severus pulled out his specially made Marauder's map. "They're following us. Go to the left a bit, Hermione. You'll see a small cottage. We'll be safe there for a bit."

The five students pulled their cloaks just a bit tighter around their shoulders and slowly walked into the cabin. "Get some rest, children. They won't come here for a time." Ginny and Hermione lay on one of the rickety looking beds, while the boys took the other. All five fell promptly asleep.

Severus pulled his mirror out of his pocket. "Sirius Black."

Sirius eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep. "Minerva made her way here somehow. She was badly beaten, but Molly and I patched her up as best we could. We still have no idea where they, whoever they are, have Gawain. Try to get here as soon as possible."

"Remus and Arthur?"

"Still missing. Moody's looking for them, but he hasn't gotten back to us yet."

Severus glanced at the Map. "We've got to go. This situation is looking quite grim."

"Just come home. I can't keep Molly from going to look for Arthur herself much longer." Sirius face faded from view. Five pairs of eyes looked expectantly at Severus.

"A person alone is a vulnerable person, so make sure you stay together. Run!" Severus gently, but forcefully gave them their instructions. They ran down the dirt path leading away from the cabin as fast as they could, but it was too late.

"You can't get away from me that quickly, dear Harry." Dumbledore's eyes flashed with rage. He bound them all and turned to Lucius. "Which ones shall we let live?"

"Obviously we need the boy…let's allow two of them to live. Which of your friends would you like to live, Harry?" A flash of light left Lucius wand and hit Severus.

Harry closed his eyes. He could hear Severus' ragged breathing, so he knew that he was still alive. "You will never win. I hope you know that, Dumbledore. Good always triumphs. Always." Harry didn't struggle, because he didn't want anyone else to die.

"You're wrong. Evil usually wins." A flash of green light hit Ron, and Harry knew Ron was gone.

"Evil only wins the battles, Dumbledore, but not the war." Despite the rage in Hermione's voice, it wasn't hard for anyone to miss the fact that she was fighting back tears. She managed to free her hands, as did Harry. Dumbledore had their wands, so it was useless trying to fight him. The two remaining members of the trio held hands, trying to keep the banter going so that another of them wouldn't end up like Ron. Another flash of light came from Dumbledore's wand, this time striking Neville.

"Someday, Harry, you will learn that there isn't such a thing as love…only power." Dumbledore tossed their wands to the ground and apparated away, followed closely by his new best friend, Lucius. Harry turned to Severus, who, other than a profusely bleeding head wound, seemed to be fine.

"I'm alright, Harry. Let's go home. They won't be able to hurt us there." Harry took Ron's cold, limp body in his arms; Severus took Neville's. "Hold on to the mirror." Severus had known about this particular feature of the mirror, but he also knew that it would have only transported four of them home, and if they would have used it with more, it would have taken them to Hogwarts, the last place they would have wanted to be. "Take me home."

* * *

With a pull similar to a portkey, they were soon transported to the backyard of Gawain's house. Sirius rushed out to greet them. "What happened, Severus?" Sirius asked, but one look at Harry, Hermione, and Ginny told him all he needed to know.

"Dumbledore…don't let Molly see Ron, Sirius. She'd probably go mad." Severus set Neville's body onto one of the picnic table benches. "Harry, set him down." Severus set his hand on Harry's shoulder, trying to give him some strength.

"I know she would. We just got the news from Moody that Arthur and…" Sirius swallowed. "Remus are dead. We had to identify them. I can call Moody to take them away. He'll need to get your memory, though."

The look that Harry gave Severus was almost enough to tear his heart in two. He desperately wanted to take away the pain he saw in his godson's eyes, but he knew he couldn't. He settled for his best friend's son in his arms, and holding him as the fifteen year old mourned his own best friend.

* * *

Hours later, when Sirius and Severus finally calmed Harry, Hermione, and Ginny down enough to get them to go to sleep, the two friends discussed the situation. "We haven't gotten any updates on where Gawain is, have we, Sirius?"

"No. Try explaining that one to the kid who's just lost their best friend, seen another friend die, and heard that two of their main father figures for the past four years have died." Sirius looked away from Severus. "We don't have anything to drink around here, do we?"

"That isn't going to help anything. We can only properly mourn when we hear news about Gawain." Severus hoped, silently because he didn't know if he could voice it aloud, that Gawain was alive. If he wasn't, Severus didn't know how they could go on. All of a sudden, they heard a knock at the door. "I'll get it."

Severus sneered when he opened the door. "What exactly are you doing here, Minister Fudge? I don't recall us inviting you."

"I must speak to Harrison Black Malfoy, Hermione Jean Granger, and Ginerva Molly Weasley. I need to witness their memories of the heinous crimes supposedly committed by Albus." The pompous man looked about as if he were about to be eaten by Severus.

"I am afraid that you will be unable to do that. They have had a most trying time of late, and if you must see a memory of the event, you may see mine, at another time. You will not put those children under anymore emotional stress than they already are. Good day, Minister." Severus slammed the door in the minister's face, much to the displeasure of said minister. "We really need to fix the warding on this house, Sirius. If that horrible excuse for a government official can get up our front path, then anyone could."

"I quite agree. Anyone could get into your home." Severus turned around. Standing in between he and Sirius was Lucius Malfoy.


	14. Chapter 14:Together

Severus and Sirius immediately whipped out their wands. "What do you think you're doing here, Malfoy?"

"I've come to fill you all in on a family secret before I kill you."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Why bother telling us if we're going to kill you?"

"You couldn't kill anyone, Black. You aren't that bold. You could have been great, you know. The Dark lord's right hand, with all the power you possess. You gave all of that up to protect a stupid little baby that supposedly has the power to take down the darkest and most powerful wizard of all time. Ha."

"So far, you haven't told us anything we don't already know, Malfoy. I thought you were going to let us in on a secret. You evil people sure do talk an awful lot when you could talk less and do more evil…'tis really counter productive you know."

Severus would have laughed had the situation not been so dreadfully serious. "Do tell us. Though it is quite pleasing watching you squirm after what you did to us earlier."

"That was Dumbledore, Severus. I only tried to kill you, which, I see obviously didn't work. Fine. I shall tell you what I came here to tell you. You aren't a Snape, Severus. You aren't even a half-blood. Dumbledore, it seems, was quite fond of setting people up with Orion Black. Your mother gave him his first child, his wife his second, and Aurelia McGonagall his third. That makes you and dear old cousin-in-law Sirius brothers." This news didn't really surprise them, since they knew Dumbledore's manipulations went pretty far. It was however, highly suspicious news considering the source.

"What's your purpose for telling us this?"

"It will make it more fun for me when I finally succeed in killing you two, because it will hurt Harry even more if I'm killing his kin. Oh, and there's one more thing I must tell you before I go." They allowed Lucius to stand for his second announcement, though neither one of them was going to let him leave without an Auror escort. "All of you think my little brother is so sweet and innocent. He's been working for the Dark lord this whole time. He's the one who killed the werewolf and the red-haired, muggle loving fool. Perhaps you can have a lovely little chat about it around the fireplace when he arrives home. If you two gentlemen will let me go, I'll be on my way. I'm really not in the mood for killing purebloods today."

"No, you only do that on the weekend," Severus muttered. You are a sick, cruel man. I pity you."

"You aren't going anywhere, slimeball." Sirius re-bound Lucius. "Severus, if you would please take our lovely prisoner downtown…"

"It would be my pleasure, Sirius." Severus levitated the blond to the fireplace and tossed floo powder in. "Paris Magic 1."

In no time, Severus and his prisoner were in the office of the Head Auror of France. Of course, Gawain was missing, but Severus and Sirius both knew how to unlock the wards.

"Meester Snape…ees there something we can do for you?" A tall, dark haired Auror to one look at Lucius and knew immediately that they were about to make the arrest of the century.

"Yes, Samuel, there is. This man not only tried to kill me earlier today, but I also caught him breaking in to my place of residence about half an hour ago. Also, if you take a look at his arm, you will find that he is a marked supporter of You-Know-Who. I brought him here because I trust your Ministry to lock him away for good. I do not trust the British Ministry at all at the moment." Severus set Lucius down so that the Auror performed the customary arrest spells on him.

"Zees ees Head Auror Malfoy's brother, no? We 'ave been trying to get zees man for years. Zees is zee arrest of zee century!" The tall man clapped his hands as if he had just been given the biggest and most expensive birthday gift possible.

"Well then, I shall leave him in your fine custody. See to it that you prosecute him to the fullest extent of the law, and do not let him go free if you can help it, Samuel." With a nod of his head, the Auror took Lucius away, leaving Severus to sort out the problems that were beginning to mount on the home front.

* * *

"Severus, take a look at this." The second Severus walked out of the fireplace, Sirius handed him a book.

"What is this?" Severus looked down at the page Sirius had opened for him. Sirius pointed to the first of two branches off of his father's.

"It says it right here in this paragraph, Sev. 'Severus Aurelius (Tobias) Black (Snape)… Oldest son of Orion Black, with Eileen Prince-Snape… Brother of Sirius Charles Black, Liliana Aurelia McGonagall Black (Malfoy), and Regulus Arcturus Black. Current Potions Master at Hogwarts, and Current Head of the Black Family.' Let's just hope that he was lying about the other part."

"I heartily agree on that one, Sirius."

"As do I, boys, as do I." Minerva limped into the room. "I hope you've taken care of the Lucius situation, Severus?"

"I have, Minerva. Were you watching our little spectacle?"

"From a safe distance…My strength isn't quite what it used to be, and with everything that happened in the past twenty-four hours, I'm a bit drained for the kind of control you two showed. I would have killed him straight away, no questions asked."

"You would've killed him? Somehow I doubt that, Minerva. Although… I did tell you that Ronald Weasley and Neville Longbottom were killed, didn't I?"

Minerva's eyes softened. "You did; two more of my little lions gone. That makes four of them this week. How is Harry taking it?"

"Considering the fact that he was forced to watch the Headmaster kill his best friend, and the fact that two of his father figures have died, he's not at all well. I had to give he and the girls dreamless sleep so that they could get some rest and gather the strength they're going to need to fight the rest of this war. It's terrible, Minerva. I wouldn't wish this life on anyone." Severus wiped a tear from his eye.

"Severus," Minerva put her arm around her niece's best friend, and according to their newly discovered kinship, brother. "That is why we stick together. We really are a family here, and times like these are what families are for."

"Remember that promise we made to Lily? That we would do anything to protect her son? Now is the time when, even though it's hard, we've got to put our whole selves into keeping that promise. Together. That's the only way any of us are going to survive this war."

A/N: Here you go! The second chapter in as many days! Please, please REVIEW! It will make me very happy.


	15. Chapter 15:The Marauder Code

It took Severus, Sirius, and Harry, when he'd finally decided that sitting in his room wasn't going to help him feel any better, three days to re-ward the house so that no more unwanted visitors could get in. By the time they were through, all three were physically exhausted.

"Severus, I just figured out a way to find Gawain." Sirius slowly walked over to the bookshelf, where Gawain kept all of his and Lily's old Hogwarts books. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before." He pulled a tattered black book off of the shelf and sat back down.

"Ah, the "Marauders' Guide to the Marauders and Friends"…I haven't looked at mine for years." Severus didn't mention the reason he hadn't looked at his copy for years, but it was fairly evident that he didn't want to see that so many of them were dead.

Sirius nodded and paged to the page labeled 'Winter'. "Let's see…Official Marauder Name: Winter…Official Marauder Mate: Lily…Official Marauder Jr.: Harry… here it is…" Sirius flipped to the fourth page of Gawain's "Official Marauder info". "Current location of Winter, also known as Gawain Malfoy is the Shrieking Shack, Hogsmede."

Severus and Harry looked at each other. "The only person who would have even thought to take him there would be another Marauder, Uncle Severus. You know who that means…" Harry cringed. "Pettigrew."

"We've got to come up with a plan. Harry, did Minerva mention when Hogwarts professors are required to return?" Sirius looked at his nephew.

"We're going back in four days, teachers are supposed to report in two." Harry yawned. "She's been named official headmistress now, you know."

"Of course she has…who else wants that job?" Severus began quickly paging through the "Marauders' Guide to the Marauders and Friends." "I have an idea. We'll have to go tomorrow morning, after we've gotten a good night's sleep. What I have in mind is going to take a lot of magic."

"Alright then…You two plan, while I go to sleep." Harry walked slowly up the stairs, stopping at the door to Ginny and Hermione's room. "May I come in?"

"I'll come out there, 'Mione's sleeping," Ginny whispered. She appeared through the door, wearing a bright orange shirt that clashed horribly with her pretty hair and a pair of red and gold pants with little flying snitches. "Did you want something, or do you just need to talk?"

"Just talk. Let's go into the library." For whatever reason, Gawain had placed his library on the second floor, right near the bedrooms, a fact which Hermione loved.

"Sorry about the pajamas, Harry. I couldn't find the shirt that goes with this, so I had to borrow one from Hermione."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that Hermione supported the Chudley Cannons. I think she stole that shirt from me, because I'm pretty sure that I got that for my birthday from…Moony, I think."Harry's eyes got misty for a minute, though he pressed on. "Ginny, before Ron was killed, I made a promise to him. I promised him that I'd take care of Hermione for him, and that I'd tell the girl that I like exactly how I feel about her."  
"Which girl would that be, Harry?" She tried to hide the fact that she knew it would be her.

"Well, for starters, she has this gorgeous reddish hair that sparkles in the sun, chocolate brown eyes that make me smile every time she flashes them my way, and the worst taste in pajamas that I've ever seen. And I've seen some pretty bad matching, considering I shared a dorm with her brother for four years." Harry grinned at her. "She also has six older brothers, though if all of them feel the same way about me and her as the one who told me to tell her all of this, our possible relationship won't be a problem."

"If you're trying to ask me to go out with you, Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy, the answer would be yes. I don't know many other girls who fit your description, and I sure hope Ron doesn't have anymore sisters." She through her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek. He hugged her back.

"Thank you. Shall I walk you to your room, my fair lady?" Harry held his arm out for her.

"Of course, kind sir."

Once both of the teens were soundly asleep in their beds, Minerva and Molly grinned at each other. They had been researching a few things for Severus in a different part of the library, and though they heard every word, Harry and Ginny hadn't even noticed they were there.

"I think they are both on their way to healing, Minerva. This will be so good for them. If only Arthur were here to see this! He loved Harry like his own son."

"Now we can focus on the future a bit easier."

* * *

Harry, Severus, and Sirius left very early in the morning. The women of the house had gotten up early as well, to make sure they ate and to give them final warnings to be safe. "Don't you dare do anything stupid, Harrison Orion…"

Harry put a finger to his girlfriend's lips. "There's no need to use my full name every time you're worried for my safety, Ginny dear. Do you think you'd like it if I called you Ginerva Molly Weasley all of the time?"

"No, I wouldn't." She gave him a hug and one final warning of safety before letting Hermione lecture him on proper wand technique just in case he got into a situation where he was backed into a corner by himself.

"The poor boy…not only does he have a new girlfriend who could give our dear and departed sister a run for her money, but he's also got his own Moony, complete with the incessant lecturing." Sirius sighed. "It's a good thing he loves them, otherwise he'd go crazy."

"Indeed. Harry, we've got to go."

Since Harry couldn't apparate, Severus Side-Along Apparated him to a secluded location just outside of Hogsmede. "We're going to sneak in from the back of the building, where there are no windows. That way, if anyone is watching, they won't notice us until it's too late for them."

"If you need to use magic, do it. Since you aren't a resident of England anymore, the Ministry can't regulate you."Sirius appeared seconds later. "Let's go."

It was still relatively dark, so the three were able to get all the way down the hill behind the Shack without anyone noticing. "Alohamora." The back door opened, and they snuck in, Severus in the lead, Harry in the middle and Sirius following, his back to Harry's so that no one could sneak up on them.

When they arrived at the same room they had been in two years earlier, Severus stopped. He opened the door slowly. What he saw appalled him. Wormtail was there, along with Crabbe and Goyle, the adult versions. They had tied Gawain and someone else to the bedposts, and it appeared that the Death Eaters had also beaten them. Severus counted to three under his breath and then the brothers and their nephew immobilized the three Death Eaters. Sirius and Harry quickly untied the two victims while Severus held his wand at the three stupid men who were now sitting on the floor, unable to move.

"Sirius, is that you?" The black-haired man who Harry had just finished untying looked up at Sirius. A look of realization dawned on Sirius' face.

"Regulus? I could have sworn you were dead."

"I've been hiding since Lily died. I don't want to be a Death Eater, Sirius," Regulus whispered.

"We'll ascertain that once we get you two out of here. Can either of you walk?"

"I think I have a broken leg, Siri. If Harry helps, I can walk just fine." Harry wrapped his arm around his father's waist and the two of them headed out of the room, leaving Sirius, Regulus, Severus, and the three Voldemort supporters.

"Regulus, follow Harry outside. They'll be heading toward the back," Sirius whispered, with some apprehension. He didn't necessarily want to leave Regulus alone with Harry until they knew what side he was on, but at the same time, Harry could defend himself if necessary.

"Now…it's time for the two of you to go." Severus let Crabbe and Goyle go since they were relatively harmless and Voldemort wouldn't be able to find Gawain's house if he tried anyway.

"You, on the other hand, aren't going anywhere." Sirius glared at the sniveling man on the floor. "Why, Peter, do I have the sinking suspicion that it was you who killed Moony and Arthur Weasley?"

"It was me… I killed the muggle-lover and the werewolf."

"Do you want to know how many times you've broken the Marauder Code, Wormtail? Do you want to know how much pain and trouble that's caused for the rest of us? Do you want to know that the only reason Midnight and I aren't going to kill you right here and right now is because of Harry?" Sirius screamed.

"The Marauder Code was a foolish, childish thing. Who needs friends when you have power like I have?"

"That wasn't a foolish thing, Wormtail, it was a Blood Oath. When a blood oath is with that many people and that many years ago, do you have any idea what could happen to you if we break our blood bond with you?" Severus sneered. "What do you think, Padfoot? Shall we?" Sirius nodded.

"We hereby, as the eldest living members of the group made up of Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, Midnight, Winter, and Lily, break any and all links we have with you through the Marauder Code." A bright white light enveloped all three of them.


	16. Chapter 16:You're in Trouble

Outside, a bright light enveloped Gawain. "What's going on?" Harry looked at Regulus, who had followed him out.

"I haven't got a clue. Let's try to get him to the top of the hill. I'm not quite as badly injured as he is… though now he's also unconscious, so that will make our job a bit more difficult." Harry and Regulus managed to get Gawain up the hill. While they waited for Sirius and Severus to come out, they got acquainted.

"So, who are you again?" Harry knew Regulus was obviously related to Sirius, and thus to him, but he still wanted to know more about the man.

"Regulus Arcturus Black, youngest brother of Sirius Black, Liliana McGonagall Black-Malfoy, and, as I recently found out through some research, Severus Snape. I believe that makes me your uncle, because only Lily's son could have those eyes. I've only ever seen pictures of you, baby pictures, that Sirius showed me when he stopped at Grimmauld Place just before my Seventh Year to officially let Mum know he never wanted to see her again. I suppose Lily asked him to show me…she was always my favorite sibling, even if she was a Gryffindor."

"I'm a Gryffindor. I almost made it into Slytherin, though. The hat wanted to put me there but…I talked it out of that."

"I wasn't aware that you could do that." Regulus got a far away look in his eyes. "Just before that infamous Halloween, I got wind of what Voldemort wanted to do, and tried to back out of the Death Eaters. I knew then, though I hadn't listened to Sirius and Lily before, that I didn't care what my family believed about Muggles, I wasn't going to follow the man who killed my sister just because she wouldn't let him kill her child. I've been in Ireland and France since then. I had just come back to England when I was abducted by Pettigrew. Gawain was already here when they brought me."

"Have you got someplace to live? If you prove to be trustworthy, you could probably live with us. We've got a huge house and there's only…" Harry stopped to count on his fingers, "about eight people living there. "

"That would be nice." Regulus turned toward the Shack. "I wonder what's keeping them?"

"I doubt Pettigrew could have over powered them. Both of them are pretty powerful and if they're together, nothing can stop them."

"I know that. Both of them, Lily too, had some of the top marks in their year. If I remember correctly, Lily was first, followed by Sirius, James Potter, Severus, Remus Lupin, and your father. Of course, except for Lily, Severus, Lupin, they focused more on pranks than homework."Regulus looked at Gawain, whom he and Harry were still holding upright."I don't think he's going to wake on his own. Do you think we should try an enervate spell?"

"Sounds good to me." As soon as Regulus said the spell, Severus and Sirius came up the hill.

"He might be out for a bit, actually. We can apparate him." Severus turned to Sirius. "You can take the rat to the Parisian authorities. Look for Samuel Marten, he'll know who you are. I'll take Harry, Regulus and Gawain home. But first…Regulus, do you mind if I take a look at your memories to ensure your trustworthiness?"

"Go ahead, Severus. I have nothing to hide." Harry watched with interest as Severus looked into Gawain's eyes. Harry knew some of the memories must have been painful for Severus to watch, because tears poured down his face by the end.

"Welcome to the family, Regulus."

Once they arrived home, Severus and Minerva began checking Regulus and Gawain over for any major injuries. Severus could easily fix Gawain's broken leg and all Regulus had were a few nasty bruises.

"Are you going to explain why Dad suddenly passed out now, or do we have to wait until Uncle Sirius gets back?" Harry raised an eyebrow at Severus.

"You look like Severus when you do that," Regulus noted.

"That isn't the first time we've heard that. Get used to it, sir. Harry does that all of the time." Ginny rolled her eyes.

"You'll get your explanation now. We broke the Marauder Code with Pettigrew. This means, that since we all shared power with the Marauder Code, he's significantly weaker, Squib –like, and the three remaining Marauders, along with all living descendants and close relatives of living and deceased Marauders, are now significantly more powerful. Since you, Harry, are effectively, because of our blood bond, the magical heir or related to James, Sirius, Lily, Gawain, Remus, and I, that means that your magically levels may increase six-fold. I don't know. I would be very careful doing even simple spells without an adult around until we figure this all out."  
"I a bit intrigued, Severus Aurelius Tobias Black Snape, how you did this in the first place." Minerva gave him a look that managed to make him feel like he was in school again.

"We did it outside. Lily, Remus, and I came up with the spell, which is exceedingly complex, considering we were only third years at the time. It is a blood-based spell. The power boost was significant, though the spells Dumbledore put on us later dampened much of the power. I know that when Lily and James died, and more recently when Remus did, I felt a significant power boost. It took me a few days to notice back then, and I'm not sure if the others did."

"So what happened to the little rat then?" Ginny asked out of morbid curiosity more than anything else.

"He's near death. It was quite painful, I suppose, getting ripped from your magic. Still," Severus said much more composed than anyone would imagine, "he deserved it."

"He did, if anyone deserves such a fate. That man caused so much death he lost himself. It's a bit sad really," Regulus sighed. "He definitely should not have been a Gryffindor."  
Suddenly, just as Sirius arrived, he, Harry, Hermione, and Sirius looked at each other, with sad smiles on their faces and shouted indignantly, "I can't believe I let him sleep in my bed!" Everyone else looked at them.

"What in the world are you talking about?"

"You all know that Ron actually had Pettigrew as a pet during our first three years, right?" Everyone except Regulus nodded. "That was what he said when he found out who Pettigrew was and what he did. He was so grossed out by it."

They burst out laughing. It was a way to relieve all of the crazy emotions that had been building up over the past few days.


	17. Chapter 17:Brothers, Friends

Severus sank slowly into one of the cozy sitting room chairs. It had been a very long day, and all he really wanted was to read his newest copy of _My Job as a Potions Master, _then go to bed and stay there for a very long time. Unfortunately for him, the house, despite the fact that nearly everyone was sleeping, was not quite as quiet as he'd like. "Sirius Charles Black, what _are _you doing in the kitchen at this hour of night?" he asked wearily.

Sirius came into the sitting room holding what had, at one point, been a large sandwich. "I was hungry, Severus. I'm sure that happens to you on occasion."

"Not at midnight when other people in the house are trying to relax and many of them are sleeping, _dear_ brother. I, unlike you, eat when everyone else does. You know, the usual three meals of the day… they're called breakfast, lunch, and dinner?" Severus gave Sirius an annoyed look.

"I've heard of them. You're more sarcastic at this time of the night than at any other time. You always have been." Sirius sat down in the chair across from his slightly grumpy older brother. "Remember that one time when Dad invited all of us on that trip to the sea, the one time that my mother didn't come with?"

Severus nodded. "I do. It was lucky that Lily was related to most of us on that trip, since we ended up sleeping in that cramped cottage because of the rain."  
"That was true. But she really never had any girl friends anyhow… she was always a marauder. That was after you guys came up with the Marauder code, so nothing bad could have happened, really." Sirius thought back to that day for a moment. "Getting back to my point about you being more nasty at midnight than any other time…do you remember what you said to James when he accidentally dumped the pitcher of water on your face?" Sirius grinned.

"He did not do that accidentally…he told me later, during the time when he and I shared a flat for a few months, that he did that completely on purpose, for the very same reason you are annoying me now. I believe I said 'Potter, in normal society, one pours ice water into a glass before offering it to another.' Then he started laughing, which woke everyone within several kilometers of him, as it always did."

"See, Severus, you are nastier at midnight. I think that you inherited that from your mother." Sirius said completely seriously, as if he had concluded this years before…which knowing Sirius, he probably had.

"Is there any point to this conversation, Sirius?" Severus sighed.

"Nope! I just wanted to talk with my favorite older brother. Besides, you were the one who called me in here from the kitchen." Sirius smiled serenely at Severus.

"Don't you ever act your age?" Severus finally gave up on reading his magazine. He rose from the chair.

"Do you ever not act your age?"

Sirius' question was met with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "That is a ridiculous question to ask a man you have known since birth and who also happens to be your brother."

* * *

"You certainly are up early, Severus." Sirius poured him a cup of coffee.

"As are you." Though Severus usually did not sleep much, he'd had a rough night, plagued by memories of the past.

"Gawain woke me when he left for work this morning." The way Sirius felt about the fact that Gawain had gone to work without saying so much as a word to his son after being missing for several days was quite obvious in his voice.

"You can't possibly be serious. The man was unconscious for a good deal of yesterday because of majorly depleted magic levels and then heads to his job, where having magic is quite necessary…without even speaking to anyone beside you?"

"He talked to me as well, Severus." Regulus joined the conversation. "I told him it would be rather unwise and that he should probably stay home and spend some quality time with his son."

"You told him that, too? Those are almost the exact words I used."

Regulus shook his head at Sirius. "Of course I told him that, Siri. When you spend as long as I did completely by yourself without any family, you have sympathy for people."

"Glad you learned something out of being alone. I worry about Gawain, though." Sirius' face showed a mixture of anger and concern.

"Because of Harry?" Severus nodded. He understood that all too well.

"He didn't ask any of us what went on in his absence, he didn't even look in on Harry before he left…nothing."  
"Gawain has never been exceedingly emotional, Sirius." Severus was trying to not blame Gawain for anything, but at the same time, he did blame him for parts of their current situation. "I also agree with you, though, on the fact that Gawain doesn't really connect with Harry as well as he could. That could be caused by a number of factors, such as the fact that he was never even in the same room as Harry until a few months ago…"  
"…or the fact that he had good parents and wasn't raised in a cupboard." Regulus added. "Harry and his friends told me everything last night."

"That's a good point, actually. Sirius and I connect better with Harry because we know what it's like to have been in Harry's shoes."

"He was better about emotional things before Lily died." Sirius mused.

Regulus smiled. "Lily always brought out the best in people, didn't she? I noticed last night when I was talking to Harry that he's a lot like her."

"His eyes, his temper, his heart…all hers." Sirius sighed. "The horrible thing is he's most like Severus in humor and temperament."

Severus scowled at Sirius. "Is that a bad thing, Sirius?"

"No…" Sirius watched Severus twirl his wand. "I didn't mean it in a bad way, you know."

"Of course you didn't." Severus smirked. He and Minerva would be heading back to Hogwarts the next day to discuss plans for the school year, so he didn't mind soaking up all of the 'family time' he could get. He looked at the clock. "That's odd… the children are usually down here eating by now. I wonder what's keeping them."

"They did stay up fairly late talking to me. Perhaps they've decided to have a bit of a lie-in."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Harry and Hermione are not the kind of people who sleep later than 7:30, Regulus. During the summer, once Harry was feeling better, the two of them would be in the library by six. "

"That's for certain… though the power boost Harry received yesterday might have thrown off something a bit. Still, it wouldn't be horrible for one of us to go and check on them, would it?"

"You can go. I'll make some breakfast for them. Regulus can help."

Regulus gave his older brother a scathing look. "Why do I ALWAYS have to help make breakfast? We have house elves for that, don't we?"

"Gawain's house elves only jobs are cleaning, organizing, and upkeep of the house and grounds. We live in a fairly muggle neighborhood so their magic would be detectable by because the French Ministry won't allow us to put up any wards to hide house elf magic," Severus sounded as if he'd rehearsed the speech several times…which he had. "Besides....you're the youngest adult, and that makes you eligible for foisting chores upon."

A/n: Hi, everyone! It's been a while since I've updated. (School has been really crazy.) Expect more updates soon! PLEASE REVIEW!


	18. Chapter 18:What a Horrible Combination

Severus crept up the stairs. The events of the past few days had made him more cautious than usual, especially since Gawain had been so odd that morning. He carefully examined the upstairs bedrooms for signs of anything that might indicate a struggle. There weren't any. Severus pushed Harry's door open. Lying on the bed, he found a scroll of parchment addressed to "Uncle Sev, Uncle Sirius, Uncle Regulus, Aunt Minerva, Mrs. Weasley and Ginny".

"He didn't," Severus muttered. "If this is what I think it is, I'm going to kill him the next time I see him." He took the scroll back downstairs and went into the kitchen. "Sit down. Harry's left us a note."

Sirius and Regulus shared a look. "He didn't go after Dumbledore or something stupid like that, did he?"

"That's what I'm afraid of." Severus turned to Minerva and Molly, who had come into the kitchen while he had been upstairs. "Harry's missing and so is Hermione. I'm going to read the note he's left us." He cleared his throat. "_Dear everyone—We've gone to fight Dumbledore. Whatever you do, don't trust Dad, he's under some sort of compulsion spell or something. Find him and remove it before he comes back home today. I've had a vision that showed Dumbledore killing Aunt Minerva and I don't want it to come true. Hermione's figured out that I am a "Truth-Future" Seer, which means that not only can I see multiple outcomes of various choices anytime I want, but I can also detect when I am being lied to.(Of course, I can't lie either, which is kind of annoying, but at the same time useful.) This will come in handy when I'm speaking with Dumbledore. We left by ourselves because I know where he is, and we can more effectively take him down with a smaller group. You three are not nearly as powerful together as Hermione and I are, so to bring you along would most likely result in your untimely demise. If I don't come back, you three can take care of Voldemort for me. (By the way, Hermione wanted me to mention that she has a bit of a crush on Uncle Regulus, even though she's only known him for a few hours. Just in case I don't make it back, I wanted to tell you all that.)—I love you, Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy. P.S. Hermione and I discovered (and used) the Marauder Code spells first year, though we didn't quite know what they were then. We improved the spells to include telepathy and location. Hermione and I can find each other from across several continents. Really, you don't have to worry about us. See, we are smarter than you guys. " _

"That's now seven Gryffindors that have engaged in blood magic right under my nose. What makes you Blacks think you can do anything?" Minerva growled.

"I'm so glad that I wasn't I Gryffindor. She scares me sometimes," Regulus whispered to Ginny. Now that he knew everything that had gone on over the past few years, he realized that there was definately a need for someone without a nasty temper in Harry's life. He, unlike his older siblings, was quieter and more thoughtful. He didn't always rush into things like Lily and Sirius, nor was he one who sat and stewed in anger like Severus. Years of living alone had taught him to value those who did both. Right now though, he was scared that Harry would die and that his brothers would follow in an attempted rescue. Obviously, he didn't know Harry very well yet.

Severus threw down the note. "What in the name of all that is still good in the world does he think he's doing? Why would two teenagers, even two exceedingly powerful teenagers, think they even have a chance going up against a man who has over a hundred more years of experience than they do?" Severus was boiling mad. He was also, though he was loath to admit it, very scared that Harry and Hermione would be killed in their attempt.

Sirius put his hands on his older brother shoulders. "Why did the six of us think we had any chance going up against Voldemort? Why did we think that what we were doing was right, even if we had absolutely no clue what we were trying to do? Why did we think we were smart enough to do anything we tried? Because we could, Severus. Together, we could have done anything. Harry's right, you know. We, even with our added power, aren't nearly as powerful as he and Hermione are, and that's scary, because we are the most powerful wizards of our age. That doesn't mean that I'm not afraid for them." Sirius paused to take a deep breath. "I am. More than you can imagine. Well, actually, you can probably imagine…but that's beside the point here. We have to try to find them. We can't let our emotions get the best of us." Sirius looked at Minerva for encouragement. It wasn't often that he was in the position of trying to cool down someone's temper. Usually, it was Severus or Minerva trying to calm him down.

"That's quite true, Sirius. Why don't Regulus, Molly, Ginny, and I try to sort out our little issue with Gawain, and you and Severus can try to track the kids. I know you'll be able to find them. There's no question of that. Let's just hope Voldemort doesn't find them first." Minerva's cooler, more experienced voice of reason prevailed.

"I knew that when Ron wrote home that he'd become friends with Harry that I was in for an adventure. Little did I know that I would be the one doing the adventuring," Molly sighed, grabbing her cloak from the kitchen closet. "Come on, Ginny. We may need your help."

"I can't believe him! Of all the stupid, foolish, arrogant things he could do, he tries to go off and save the world…again!" Ginny muttered, following Minerva out the door.

"Remember, Ginny, that not only is he a Black, with all of their hotheaded stupidity, but he's also a Malfoy. He didn't go through with this without careful planning. You know that." Minerva looked back at Severus and Sirius as she walked out. "Be careful, boys."

"We always are. Slytherin cunning with the Gryffindor penchant for being noble and brave… what a horrible combination." Severus shook his head. "Have you any idea where they might be by now?"

"There's only one possible place they could be. Think for a moment, Sev. Where's the only place that Dumbledore would make his headquarters?"

"The same place that he grew up in and orchestrated the deaths of two Marauders. Godric's Hollow. Grab two of Gawain's dragon hide Auror cloaks…preferably the black ones. We may need them before the day is over.


	19. Chapter 19: The Flight of the Bumblebee

A/n: This is Harry and Hermione's view of the previous chapter.

"Come on. I can hear Uncle Sev and Uncle Sirius talking in the sitting room, so we're going to have to head out the kitchen. Don't say anything until we're out of here." Harry took her hand. "Thanks for not letting me go on this journey alone, 'Mione."

"You're welcome. Even if I think this is suicide and that even if we are two of the most powerful teenagers ever we can't possible beat him, I'm not leaving you. If we die, we die together."

"I'd prefer that we stay alive together. But this needs to be done, and if we go down, we'll prevent several unnecessary deaths." He didn't let go of her hand as they crept down the kitchen stairs. Harry apparated them to a dark alley behind a pub. "Before you even say it, Hermione, I know I'm not supposed to be able to apparate. You'll say that what I just did was exceedingly dangerous and I could have killed us. Don't. Dad taught me how as soon as I was well enough this summer, just in case I'd need it. I've got enough power to apparate the both of us without depleting my magic levels. That's all you need to know."

"I wasn't going to say anything. He taught me as well. He knew I'd be the one going with you if you decided to do something like this. He's rather perceptive."

Harry grinned. "He _is _a Malfoy you know."His face turned more serious. "Are you ready for this?"

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't have come with you," she whispered. "Where are we going?"

"This way," he pointed to the right. "Just follow me. If we need to talk from now on, use our mind link, okay?" Harry pulled his hood up. It wouldn't do for his Malfoy blond hair to be seen and remembered by anyone. He walked out of the alley. "_The vision I had took place in that house over there. Let's try to sneak in from the back." _

The house Harry was referring to was one of the largest in the area. It was an older house, mostly made of stone, unlike the wooden homes around it. Harry knew from the reading he and Hermione had done once his Seer powers surfaced that the house was probably and old manor house from the feudal days. There were several trees around the house, so the duo reached the back door relatively quickly, without anyone noticing them. _"We're going to Disillusion ourselves now, to give us some added protection against eyes other than Dumbledore." _

"_I don't really think that's the best idea, but it's the only option we have right now, since you didn't bring your Invisibility Cloak." _Hermione Disillusioned Harry and then herself. They looked around to make sure no one saw them approach the door, and then opened the door by magic. Luckily, there weren't any people in the back of the house, but they could hear Dumbledore speaking with someone toward the front.

"Do you really think that anyone would be so stupid as to try and kill me, Minister? I'm nearly invincible. The only person with power even close to mine is Tom Riddle, and he's quite puzzled by my outwardly change in personality."

"_That's what he thinks. The people in our house could kick his evil behind all the way to America if we tried."_ Harry grinned at Hermione, who rolled her eyes in response.

"_I've heard Americans are quite nice…why ever would we want to send him there? Why not Siberia or Antarctica or the middle of the Arctic Circle or…"  
_

"_Shhhh…I'm going to sneak up behind him. You take out Fudge, I'll deal with the Bumblebee, okay?" _

"_Like that will be difficult." _Once they realized that Fudge and Dumbledore were the only two people in the room, their job became a bit easier. Hermione used a simple stunner and dropped a book on Fudge's head.

"What is going on here? I am positive that there are no ghosts in this house, Mr. Malfoy. Why don't you make yourself visible so that this can be a fair fight?"

"Who says it's going to be fair? You've never played by the rules, Dumbledore. You the answers to everything are in your visions. Well, let me tell you something…you aren't even a good seer. You can't see multiple scenarios of your actions. Besides that, there are ghosts in this house. There are three outside in the shed. I heard them when we came in. But you are right, we should make this a fair fight, shouldn't we? I believe in fairness."

"I'm going to win anyway, so why even bother?"Dumbledore sneered. "I'm much more powerful than you are. What can one measly fifteen year old boy who hasn't even passed his OWLs yet, do to the invincible Albus Dumbledore?"

"You'll find out. _Stay disillusioned, 'Mione it gives us an advantage." _Then the fighting began. Harry started out with some of the more powerful spells he knew. He used only legal spells, because he didn't want to get in trouble with the English Ministry any more than he was already going to. Thank Merlin his dad had diplomatic immunity in nearly every country. He'd be able to pull some strings to prevent Harry and Hermione from getting thrown in Azkaban. Dumbledore matched Harry spell for spell, and he wasn't nearly as nice as Harry was. Hermione blocked several of the nastier spells, sending a few spells at Dumbledore that she and Harry had invented. As morning broke, it was clear that major damage had been done to the house. After all, there were three of the most powerful students Hogwarts had ever put out fighting to the death in a tiny room…something was bound to be broken or burned.

"Apparently, I underestimated you, Harry. You have more power than I've ever seen in a student. It's quite unfortunate that I'll have to kill you. You need to die, you know, for me to rule the world."

"Too bad you aren't going to rule the world anytime soon." Harry and Hermione kept up the barrage of spells for several more hours.

"_He's weakening, Harry. His spells don't have quite as much power behind them_ _as they did before. I think now would be a good time to try our spell. If it doesn't work, at least then we still have enough power to continue fighting him." _

"_That's probably a good idea. In case this backfires on us, you've always been a very good friend to me, 'Mione." _

"_I think it will work, actually. We've put quite a bit of time and research into this spell. I'm still not quite sure what the effects of it will be, though." _She paused. "_I feel the same way about you." _

He took her hand. "_On the count of three…one, two, three!" _A brightly colored light flowed from their wands, merging as it sped toward Dumbledore. It was impossible to tell what the color actually was, but that seemed to be because of the nature of the spell. The aged wizard fell to the floor just as Sirius and Severus entered the room. Severus held Sirius back so that they could see what effect the spell would have besides knocking the old man over.

"He's probably dead. The spell we used was, well, it funneled love at him. If he was truly evil, he'll be dead for certain. If there's any bit of good left in him, he'll just have his magic stripped." Hermione put her arm around Harry so that he wouldn't fall. Harry had expended more magic and used more physical force in their fight, and could barely stand.

Sirius rushed over to Dumbledore. "He's not breathing. His heart's stopped. I think he is dead."

"That's a shame. He wasn't that bad to start with. Just a bit power hungry and rather misguided," Severus said sarcastically. "Are you all right, Hermione?"

"I'm not sure. I don't even know half the spells he sent at us, so who knows what kind of effects they had on us. If we've got a pensive at home, I think you should look at it."

"That's probably a good idea. I'll call Moody to come and take him away, and then Sirius and I can take you two home."

"We're not going to get yelled at, are we Uncle Sev?" Harry grinned tiredly.

"You most assuredly will be yelled at, Mr. Malfoy. But first you can take a bit of a nap. You should hope that your father won't be too harsh on you. I'll fight for you."


	20. Chapter 20: The Harmony Spell

It took several hours for Gawain to figure out what to say to Harry and Hermione once Regulus and Minerva had removed the compulsion spell from him. While he did so, he and a team of French Spell-Crafters tried to figure out, using the memories from Severus and Sirius, exactly what spells the fifteen year olds used to create the one that killed Dumbledore. By suppertime, they still hadn't figured it out, and Gawain decided it was time to go home. Mysteriously, Sirius and Severus had taken everyone out to dinner that night as soon as Gawain walked in the door.

Gawain went up the stairs and woke Harry from his nearly daylong slumber. "Harry, I do believe that you and I need to have a little chat. Your uncles have decided to take everyone out to eat tonight, so the three of us have the house all to ourselves."

"Is Hermione going to get the same "chat" as I am?" Harry pulled the blanket over his face so that only his eyes were showing.

"Of course she is. You two are in a heap of trouble with the English Ministry, you know."

"We wouldn't be if they weren't paid off by Death Eaters and stupendously incompetent."

"As true as that may be, you're still in trouble. I'll see you in the sitting room." Harry couldn't help but be a bit afraid of the possible punishment that his dad could come up with. Gawain was a Marauder—he'd know all of the worst punishments.

The older Malfoy pulled a chair over to the couch that Harry and Hermione were sitting on and began his speech. "Imagine my surprise when, after Minerva, Molly, Regulus, and Ginny had broken that compulsion spell, I found out that my son and his best friend had, in effect run away. How do you think I felt when I heard that, Harry?" Gawain arched his eyebrow, much like Severus was known to do when angry.

"You were angry at me for thinking two fifteen year olds could take on Dumbledore. But you were more than angry…you were scared that you'd lose me like you lost mum."

"Did you use your Seer powers to tell you that?"

"No. I just know what I would be thinking if you did something like that." Harry couldn't lie, and Gawain knew it. He almost got rid of their punishment. Almost.

"There's another thing I want to ask you. I read the note you left for everyone, thanks for that, which mentioned that you'd improved upon our spells. How long did it take you, exactly?"

"Harry found the spells over Christmas break and it took us a couple of weeks to add what we wanted," Hermione shrugged. "It wasn't that hard. Professor Snape, Lily, and Remus left really good notes, which Harry found behind a loose brick in the Common Room."

"I can't believe that. Yet I know that you can't possibly be making this up. It's a lot to take in. I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume that it didn't take you all that long to develop the spell you used this morning. Would you like to explain how exactly you did it? I had a whole team of Spell-Crafters working on it for hours, and they couldn't even come up with the base spells you used."

"Well, we started out by researching the development of the Killing Curse and the Patronus."

"We liked the idea of the Patronus and the way it channels good feelings. We didn't like the Killing Curse because Voldemort uses it far too frequently, and that's the way he killed Harry's mum. Eventually, Ron suggested we look for a spell that could meld the Patronus with the Imperious Curse, effectively creating a spell that would 'possess with good'."

"In this really old book in our library upstairs, I found a spell that was like the Imperious, but gives the person a choice of whether they want to do the action or not."

"We modified the spell a bit, mixed in the Patronus idea, and got our spell. I took detailed notes, and our test subjects were quite pleased with the results."

Gawain's mouth dropped open. "You had TEST SUBJECTS?"

"Of course, Dad. We had to know what effects the spell would have. We tested it on Uncle Sirius and Uncle Severus. Since they love and have no intentions to turn evil, the spell didn't do all that much." Hermione's elbow made contact with Harry's rib. "Okay, so it got rid of Uncle Sev's Dark Mark and took away the lingering side effects Uncle Sirius had from Azkaban, but other than that…"

"You two are unbelievable. I've half a mind to punish your uncles instead of you." Gawain looked at them. "Did you say you got rid of Severus' Dark Mark?"

"Yup, Uncle Regulus', too." We did it to him last night, right before we left. Do you need our services?"

"That would be lovely…after I give you your punishment."Harry gave his dad his best "I-am-so-sorry-Daddy-please-don't-punish-me" look. "Don't do that, Harry. It doesn't work for your godfather and it didn't even work for your mother. I am immune to that look. You and Hermione will be spending three days a week helping Severus. I am told the Hospital Wing is quite low on some necessary potions. I am fairly certain that the two of you will be competent enough to handle any potion he gives you." Gawain's punishment wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, considering who he was. He was proud of them for their achievement—most of his Spell-Crafters couldn't have come up with anything near the caliber of this spell.

Harry and Hermione readied their wands and pointed them at Gawain. Suddenly, he felt as if he was at a sunny beach, and years of tension and toil melted away. When he opened his eyes and looked at his arm, the ugly black mark that had been there for years was gone. "That is something else. How exactly does it do what you need it to?"

"In basic terms, the spell really does possess you with good. If you have made the choice to permanently be bad and there isn't any chance in saving you, you'll die. If you've had at least one regret of a bad choice you've made, the spell gives you a chance to redeem yourself. You'll have to read the notes. They're quite extensive." Hermione jumped up from the couch and ran upstairs to get them.

"We bound them like a book. I wrote about the background research we did and how we arrived at our final hypothesis and our results. Hermione wrote down the information about our test subjects and the tutorial on how to use our spell."

"Here you go Mr. Malfoy." Hermione set the tome in his hands.

"_The Harmony Spell by Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy and Hermione Jean Granger with additional notes by Severus Aurelius Tobias Black Snape and Sirius Charles Black_. That's an impressive title." Gawain flipped through the book. "I don't suppose you would mind if I took this to work tomorrow, would you? My Spell-Crafters would love to look at this. Unfortunately, there's something I forgot to tell you— that pompous fool that the British call their Minister stopped by my office today with a list of the charges against you."

"There's a list? We didn't break that many laws, did we?" Harry rolled his eyes. Knowing the way Fudge acted, half of the charges were probably false.

"Yes. I shall read it to you. You'll hear it at the trial, which is tomorrow at 7 am. '_The Official Listing of the Charges Against Harrison O. A. Black Malfoy and Hermione J. Granger: _

_One count of assaulting a Ministry Official with a stunning spell and a large book _

_Two counts of breaking the Restriction for Underage Wizardry _

_Innumerable counts of using illegal spells _

_Two counts of breaking the International Statute of Secrecy' _"

"Half of those charges are completely ridiculous. We didn't break the Restriction for Underage Wizardry because that only applies to people who have permanent residences in England. We don't live in England anymore." Harry looked at his father for confirmation.

"Correct. Hermione's parents do, but since her legal Magical Guardian lives here, she is exempt from that law as well. I've looked at your memories, and I know you didn't use any illegal spells, either. You used some very old, obscure spells that are borderline dark, but none of them were illegal. Since Dumbledore was using spells that were mainly dark in nature and more than illegal, you're not in any danger from that, either."

"We didn't break the Secrecy Statute. We were entirely inside and there were really thick curtains on the window. There's no way any Muggles saw what we were doing."

"I know that. That's why I'll be providing your legal counsel tomorrow. Trust me when I say that we will win."

A/n: Review!


	21. Chapter 21: No, I Won't Kill You

The events of the past few days had left Ginny with a lot of time to think about the way things were going in her life. As sure as she had been about dating Harry when he'd asked, she was beginning to have second thoughts. Every time she watched him with Hermione, she became more and more certain that she wasn't the right girl for him. Anyone with eyes could see that Hermione was on a different level with Harry than anyone else was. Ginny needed to discuss this with someone. When she went down to the kitchen for some tea that night, someone walked right into her path.

"Sirius can I ask you a personal question?" Ginny asked as she poured her tea.

"That depends. Is it a girly question? I don't know anything about girly stuff." He grinned at her.

"No, it isn't a girly question. I would go to Mum, Hermione, or Professor McGonagall if this were a girly question. It's about Harry." She watched his face to see if his expression changed.

He set his cup down. "I knew this was coming, you know. I may not be the most observant where relationships are concerned, but I've seen people in love before, and Harry is definitely in love with Hermione."

"I know. The thing is, I love him too, but I can't compete with her. She's a match for him intellectually, emotionally…they've experienced so much together that no one else can give them quite what they need except the other." Ginny sighed. "What do you think?"

"I think that this reminds me of another person who came to me with the exact same situation you have now. It was late in Fifth Year, and we had just come in from the second full moon we'd spent with Remus…

"_Padfoot…"James sat on the corner of Sirius' bed. They were all quite tired, Peter had already fallen asleep, but it appeared as if James had something very pressing that he needed to discuss. _

"_Yes, Prongsie? Whatever do you need at 3:30 in the morning?"Sirius pulled off his shoes and tossed them under his bed. _

"_I'm having a bit of a problem."James sighed. "And I'm talking to you about it because you're my best friend...but don't kill me when you hear what it's about, okay?" _

"_I can't promise you anything, but go ahead. I do need my beauty sleep you know."Sirius lay back and waited for James to speak._

"_I don't think sleep can help someone as ugly as you Padfoot, but you can try as soon as I'm done. It's about Lily." Talking to Sirius made the whole situation a bit more complicated than it was, since not only was Lily his sister, but she was a Marauder too, and Rule Number 7 of the Ten Rules Marauders Must Keep was "A Marauder should not cause pain or unnecessary grief to another Marauder or Marauder family member held in high esteem." _

"_Let me guess…You really like her, love her even, but you know that she's desperately in love with Winter and you just want to do what's best for her because, as I said, you love her?" _

"_Right. I don't want to cause any trouble, you know, because she's your sister and all that, and you, Midnight, and Moony would kill me if I hurt her, so I just want to know what you think I should do." James ran his hands through his perpetually messy hair. _

"_Do you really want to know what I think, James? I think that you should talk to her, and tell her exactly what you just told me. I think you'll find that she probably feels the same way, but doesn't want to hurt you either." _

"_Why does it sound like you've talked to her about this too?" _

"_She __**is **__my sister, Prongsie. We talk."_

"_You don't talk to Regulus much." _

"_That's because he hangs around with a bunch of Slytherin thugs."Sirius pretended to be sick. "Our Slytherins aren't thugs."  
_

"_That's true. Gawain and Severus don't spew a bunch of pureblood garbage either." _

"So what you're saying is that I should just talk to Harry. Have you talked to him about it?" Ginny took a sip of tea. That story had made her feel a lot better.

"No, but I think Severus did. He didn't want Harry to drag out your relationship if it wasn't working out. That's what he said at least, you know how Severus is."

"I do. He's much nicer now. I hope that carries over into class."

"I'm sure it will. He doesn't have to listen to Dumbledore or Voldemort anymore."

Ginny put away her tea and hugged Sirius. "Thanks, Sirius. You're not the most likely person to go to for relationship advice, but it worked in this situation!"

"You're welcome. Glad I could be of service."

* * *

Ginny went back upstairs to find Harry. He was, as he'd often been recently, in the library with Hermione. They were working on another new spell, but she wasn't sure what it was. "Hi, guys. Do you mind if I borrow Harry for a minute, Hermione?"

"Go ahead. He was just about to go get a book from his room anyway." Hermione smiled at Ginny.

"So what can I help you with, Ginny?" Harry gave her his undivided attention. When Ginny looked into his emerald eyes and saw how happy he was, she knew she was doing the right thing.

"Harry, you know how you asked me to go out with you a few days ago?" She absentmindedly noted that he was wearing an old t-shirt of Ron's. He'd been doing that a lot lately. It appeared as if most of Ron's wardrobe, even the most worn out pieces of clothing, had made it into Harry's possession.

"This isn't really working." They both said together.

"You're right, Harry, it isn't. I'm not the right girl for you. You need someone who will follow you anywhere, do anything for you. Someone who is a good match for you intellectually, someone who's always been there for you and always will be…and I think you know who that is." Ginny grinned. "She's right through the library door."

"Do you really think so? You aren't going to hate me for the rest of your life or anything like that?" Harry turned to look back at Hermione, her head bent over a think book, and knew that what Ginny was saying was true.

"Don't worry about it, Harry. We're still friends. You don't have to worry that I'm going to murder you in your sleep or something. Merlin knows you have enough people willing to do that already."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Only you could joke about that without me getting angry at you. That said... it's much safer for me to have you on my side than theirs. Your hexes are quite legendary." Harry dodged Ginny's arm. "What was that for?"

"You're acting like Professor Snape again!"

"I can't help it! He is my uncle, you know. It's genetic. Remind me, tomorrow after the trial and everything, provided we aren't tossed in Azkaban for 'assaulting a Ministry Official with a large book', to ask Uncle Sirius if Mum every acted like Uncle Sev. Then we'll know where I got it from."


	22. Chapter 22:The Melting of Fudge

Severus and Minerva snuck into Harry's room early the next morning. "Harry, wake up." Minerva sat on the edge of his bed and nudged his shoulder.

"Hi, Aunt Minerva...are you leaving?" Harry rubbed his eyes. He and Hermione had spent hours in the library after everyone had gone to sleep. They were making a second version of the Harmony spell and working on a few other spells that could come in handy in the days ahead.

"We are. We wanted to see you before the trial though. I'm going to give you a word of advice, Harry." Minerva waited for her great-nephew to wake up a bit more. "I know that you have trouble speaking to large groups, so just pick out one person in the Wizengamot and speak directly to them. I've used the trick myself sometimes, and it works. We'll be thinking about you. Don't be afraid to speak your mind. Though, considering who you're dealing with, they might not let you speak at all."

"I don't have anything additional to offer to that. Having been on trial myself, I understand what you'll be going through, so if you have any problems afterwards, you can talk to me when you get back to Hogwarts the day after tomorrow. Do write or floo us when it's over." Severus smirked. "Also, as an additional note, try to quell any urges you have to use sarcasm or any other traits you've picked up from me. It won't get you anywhere with those who are out for your blood."

"Am I really that much like you that everyone has to keep remarking on it? I don't do it on purpose." Harry recalled the conversation he'd had with Ginny the night before.

Minerva and Severus nodded. "You are. I think it's the influence of our Black relatives. It's just more pronounced in you because you're a Black and a Malfoy."

"Speaking of Malfoys…are there any on the Wizengamot? Great-Grandparents or something?"

Severus scratched his head for a moment, trying to think. "I believe that your Great-Great-Great-Grandfather, Samuel Malfoy, is, but his son, your twice great grandfather, Rufus, may have taken his spot. I'm not precisely sure. Your father will likely make sure you know whichever one it happens to be. We must be going now, before our colleagues begin dueling each other. Most of the students are still there as well, so we'll need to know if there have been any problems." Severus turned to leave.

"Has that ever happened?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "They don't seem like the type."

"Several years ago, Professor Trelawney decided to insult Professor Flitwick's stature, and he, being a former dueling champion, decided to fight her. Not that we blame him, of course…Trelawney isn't one of our favorite fellow teachers."

"I can't wait to see what she'll say now that I know I'm a real Seer. Do I have to continue with Divination, Aunt Minerva? Can't I just drop the class like Hermione did and take something else?" Harry tried to give his aunt the most innocent look he could come up with so early in the morning.

"I'm afraid you'll just have to stick with it for this year. Next year, you can pick up something else to replace it. I'm sure you'll have fun making up predictions for her, even without Ron." She patted his head.

"I could give her real ones, which would scare her more, I'm sure."

"I'm sure that that would have the opposite effect. She'd probably like you more and want you to take additional classes with her."

"Don't ever suggest that again, Uncle Sev. That would be horrible."

* * *

An hour later, Harry and Hermione were following Gawain down a long, cold corridor somewhere in the bowels of the English Ministry of Magic building. "Where are we going, Dad? We've been walking forever."

"Apparently the entire council is going to try you. Your thrice-great Grandfather Samuel is on the council, so at least we know that one person is on your side. I received at letter from him last night. He told me that he'd be on your side one-hundred percent because he never liked Dumbledore. You'll recognize him right away, I think." Gawain stopped outside the door of courtroom twelve. "The trial starts at 7. It's 6:45 now, so we just have a few minutes to wait."

Harry put his arm around Hermione. It was rather cold in the corridor, and he was starting to get a bit nervous. "Are you scared?" He whispered.

"Of course I am. But you'll be right there the whole time, so it's not like I'll be completely alone." She took his hand. "I'm trying to be optimistic here."

"Just so you know, Hermione, I've seen several different versions of this trial. Not one of them turned out positive for us." He pulled her closer. "I want you to know that I love you, just in case we never see each other again after this."

"I love you too."She rolled her eyes. "You're being a bit melodramatic, but trust me, I understand."

A few minutes before 7, Percy Weasley came out to get them. "Your presence is required in the courtroom immediately."

"Apparently_, someone_ is still a stuck-up stick-in-the-mud. I wonder if he's even talked to his family since Mr. Weasley and Ron died." The disgust in Harry's voice was evident.

"I don't think so. They were estranged earlier this summer, so I can't imagine, especially with them all being so stubborn, that he would have."

Gawain turned to them. "You know him?"

"He's Ginny's brother. We'll tell you about him later." Percy led them to two chairs in the middle of the large room. The second they sat down, Harry and Hermione were immediately shackled to the ground and the chair.

"I'll need to confiscate your wands for the duration of the trial. Minister Fudge does not want you to act upon any further hostilities you may harbor against him." Percy held his hand out expectantly.

"Do not give him your wands. He doesn't have the right to take them from you." Gawain stood between Harry and Hermione, with a hand on each of their shoulders. "I will not allow you to take their wands and leave them completely helpless should your Minister try to attack them."

"My... the…Minister Fudge would never do such a thing. He merely wants protection against potential murderers." Percy looked at the two of them with disdain. "I told my mother not to let Ronald associate with you two…look at where it got him." He turned and went over to where the council was beginning to assemble. Harry could see the Minister's face turning purple.

Gawain chose that moment to give his charges some needed advice. "Whatever you do, don't give up your wands. They aren't allowed to take them unless they convict you of a crime. Trust me. I know the English and French laws backwards, forwards, and sideways. That's how one gets to be Head Auror."

"Good. I'm glad you're on our side, Mr. Malfoy."

"Call me by my first name, Hermione. Calling me "Mr. Malfoy" makes me feel old." Just then, Fudge took his seat, right across from Harry, and called the trial to order.

"We are here today to try the case of Hermione J. Granger, muggleborn, accused of assaulting a Ministry official, murdering Albus P.W.B. Dumbledore with an unknown and unapproved of spell, breaking the International Statute of Secrecy, using underage magic, and using illegal spells. We are also trying the case of Harrison O. A. Black Malfoy, pureblood," Harry heard gasps from the crowd at the reading of his name, "who is accused of all of the aforementioned crimes." Fudge stood up. "Delores Umbridge, Undersecretary to the Minister, will now present a pensive memory of the vicious and unprovoked attack carried out by these two individuals." Everyone turned to watch the memory.

"It wasn't vicious; he doesn't even have a bruise!" Hermione whispered loudly. "All I used was a stunner…I obviously wasn't trying to harm him."

"No kidding. Everyone is going to agree with us, especially since they can tell we didn't use any illegal spells or use any spell with the intent to kill. I didn't want to kill him, that's why we came up with our spell."

It was quite clear to everyone on the jury that most of the charges were false. Harry searched the large group, trying to find his relative. It didn't take long, since he had the recognizable Malfoy features and was sitting directly behind the Minister. Samuel made eye contact with Harry and nodded.

"The council has requested to see a demonstration of the spell that they used. Head Auror Malfoy of the French Ministry has already provided us with the children's notes from their spell development, which was very well documented, as well as the reports from the French Spell-Caster Division of the French Ministry, who examined the spell yesterday." Amelia Bones looked at Fudge. "Could you please release them so that they may show us? Lord Samuel Malfoy has graciously offered to be an additional test subject for this so-called "Harmony Spell"."

Samuel Malfoy, who was surprisingly agile for someone approaching 132 years old, came over to where Harry and Hermione were now standing. "I trust you, son. If this spell kills me, which, after reading your notes I should think it won't, I shan't hold it against you. You have a good future, lad, and I expect to see you at Christmas dinner— all three of you, and your uncles. "

"If they don't throw us in Azkaban, we'll be there, sir." Harry grinned.

Harry and Hermione stood a few feet away from the Malfoy patriarch and performed the spell, just as they had the day before. Many of the Wizengamot members, most of which were quite old, were awed by the way the couple worked together, and the fact that two fifteen year olds could invent and perform a non-verbal spell. Samuel Malfoy, for his part, smiled broadly when the spell was completed.

"This is the best I've felt in years! Thank you."

"Anytime, sir…anytime." Harry looked at Hermione. "I think we'll be alright, 'Mione."

As soon as Samuel was back in his seat, Fudge, who was as purple as Harry had ever seen someone who was still alive get, spoke again. "All who declare the two alleged-murderers innocent, raise your hands." Everyone except for Umbridge, Fudge, and someone who muttered something about "Stupid Malfoys" raised their hands.

Amelia Bones spoke again. "I would like to refute any questions you may have on our collective verdict, Minister. First, neither of these children, if I may call them that, broke the Underage Wizardry laws because they don't live in England. The French laws state that as long as one individual above the age of 21 supervises the children, a child as young as six may use magic. They were supervised, since they were fighting a wizard well over the age of 21, and though you may have been indisposed, you were there. In addition to that, the Statute of Secrecy wasn't broken, no memories had to be erased, and not one Muggle saw anything they weren't supposed to. Ms. Granger and Mr. Black Malfoy used entirely legal spells in their fight, it was only Dumbledore who used illegal spells."

"But the spell they used in front of us is untested and therefore illegal! I can have you taken care of Amelia Bones!" The Minister tried one last, futile attempt.

"The spell was very well researched and we've had our Unspeakables look at it and test it. It's perfectly safe for anyone who chooses not to do evil. We've declared it legal for use in Britain, and the Head Auror of France, who controls such things, has declared it legal there. In fact, we've decided to take this opportunity to put you on trial for all of the things you've done while Minister." She looked at Harry and Hermione with unbridled glee. "You're free to go. We're sorry for causing you such inconvenience. Thank you for getting rid of that old meddler for us."

Harry and Hermione walked happily out of the court room hand in hand, leaving a fuming Fudge and a bewildered Percy Weasley to deal with the wrath of the Wizengamot.


	23. Chapter 23: Outside the Boundaries

Hermione kept a tight grip on Harry's hand as they came through the fireplace into the Headmistress' office. It was much harder being back in Hogwarts than either of them had expected. "Hello, Harry, Hermione, Ginny." Minerva smiled brightly at them, even though they could tell she was quite busy.

"Hi, Aunt Minerva. Did you miss me?"

"I did. I had to go down and visit Severus several times just so I could have the company of someone who missed you as much as I did." Minerva winked at him.

"I told you she'd miss me, Hermione. You didn't believe me." Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes. Sometimes Harry's family was a bit strange.

"You three had better go up to the tower and meet your new Head of House. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised."The trio turned to leave. "Just because you have a new Head, however, does not mean that I will stop supporting Gryffindor Quidditch. After all, I can support my favorite great-nephew without being biased, can't I?"

Harry nodded. "I'll do my best, Aunt Minerva."

The three Gryffindors headed toward the tower with mixed anticipation and dread. Hermione knew it would be hard for Harry in his dorm. With Seamus' personality, he was liable to say something that would set Harry off. There wouldn't be anyone to wake him up if he had nightmares either. He would make sure they didn't know.

"Who do you think our new Head is? It's got to be someone that was in Gryffindor, doesn't it?" Ginny turned to Hermione.

"Typically, the Head of House is chosen by the Headmaster or Headmistress, along with their deputy. It doesn't necessarily matter what House the person was in, but you wouldn't put a former Slytherin as Head of Gryffindor. There's too much rivalry."

"Did you read that in _Hogwarts, A History_?" Harry knew it was her favorite book, and so he'd finally read it.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did."

The twins were waiting outside the portrait for them. "They've changed the password, and we weren't sure if you'd know what it was." For once, the twins were more subdued. "It's quite odd seeing you two without Ron. Never thought that would happen."

"I assure you that we wish Ron was still here," Harry sighed. "Who's the new Head of House?"

"Ariana Ravenwood. She looks a lot like your dad, though." Everyone turned to Hermione. She _was _the resident authority on Harry's family tree.

"The Ravenwood's are one of the oldest and most powerful wizarding families. Ariana was the only child of Aderyn and Tristan Ravenwood, thus she would have inherited several properties, loads of money, and the family titles. She married Abraxas Malfoy in 1950, and they had two children, Lucius and Gawain. It's rumored that she's quite beautiful and that, besides being on the International Board of Potions Makers, she's also quite good at Transfiguration. My guess is she's probably taken Professor McGonagall's place."

"Quite right, Ms. Granger."A tall, beautiful woman with long, reddish curls came up behind them. "I was also in Gryffindor when I was here. My, you do look like your father, don't you? Except for your beautiful eyes—those came from your mother. It's such a shame that Abraxas kept Gawain away from her. They were so in love."Ariana smiled. "It's lovely to finally see you, Harry. I'm your grandmother, Ariana Ravenwood. You can call me whatever you want, Harry, except professor. I'll not have family using titles. I expect that we'll get to know each other much better over the next few years. I'd like to, anyway. You seem like a much better representation of the Malfoy family than Abraxas, Lucius, or Draco."

"I certainly hope that I am. My Uncle Sirius would kill me if I started acting like Draco and spouted off how pure my blood is to everyone. That doesn't matter anyway. It's how pure your heart is that matters." Harry grinned at Hermione.

"I couldn't have put it better myself, son. You'll make us proud; I know you will. You two are my fifth year prefects, are you not?" Harry and Hermione nodded. "Then you better get inside the portrait before I'm forced to give you detention for spending too much time in the corridors talking to teachers." She smiled.

Harry smiled back. "Well, let's do what she says. Wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of my grandmother, would you?" The happiness his grandmother seemed to exude put Harry's mind at ease.

As soon as they all went through the portrait hole, Ginny exclaimed, "How in the world does someone as nice as that lady seems to be end up with a son like Lucius? Tell me."

"I have no idea, but I have a feeling that none of my family members are going to go easy on me this year. " Harry sunk into his favorite chair by the fireplace. He set his bag, which held the few belongings he'd taken with him that night they'd escaped, on his lap. The twins went back over to where Lee Jordan was frantically writing something in the corner and Hermione and Ginny took up the two chairs near Harry.

"So, it is true. Weasley finally got what he deserved for hanging around with you. It was all over the papers. I always knew that one of you would end up dead."

Harry and the Weasley twins looked ready to kill. They probably would have, had Angelina, Katie, and Alicia not been holding them back. Hermione was twirling her wand dangerously. "Finnegan, I suggest that you leave us alone, right now, or Harry and I will not hesitate to use you as the first test subject for the new spell we're developing."

"I also heard that the two of you killed him off, just so you two could get together, and that you two were on trial for murdering Dumbledore but got off because of your family connections." That was it for Harry. He broke away from Katie and slammed Seamus square in the nose. It turned into an all-out scuffle.

"You have five minutes to explain what's going on here before I start handing out detentions with Professor Snape."She took one look at Harry, who was being pulled back by Fred and George, and Seamus, who was glaring at Harry. "Well…who's going to go first? We don't want anyone to die of blood loss."

"I was merely commenting on the truth. Weasley got killed because Malfoy and his family are nothing but a bunch of no good Death Eaters and mass murderers."

Ariana's blue eyes turned cold. "Do not ever accuse me of being a follower of that horrible man. I've seen enough death to last a lifetime. Just because one of my sons and my husband decided to worship that evil man doesn't make us all Death Eaters. I never want to hear you insult my family like that again, Mr. Finnegan, nor do I want to take points from my own House, or my own grandson. You have left me no choice." She looked at Harry. "Did you throw the first punch, Harry?"

"I did, ma'am. I'm sorry. I didn't give a very good representation of my family values today."Harry didn't look her in the eyes.

She lifted up his chin. "No, you didn't, but you don't have to be sorry for defending your family. Nevertheless, I am going to take ten points from each of you for being a disgrace to Gryffindor and I'm giving you both two days of detention with Professor Snape."

"Why bother, he'll let Malfoy off easy," Seamus muttered.

"Would you like twenty points taken the next time, Mr. Finnegan? I'm already considering adding to your detention."Ariana glared.

"No, Professor."

"Go to the Hospital Wing and get your nose examined. It appears that it might be broken. Harry, if you don't need to go to the Hospital Wing right away, I want to see you and Ms. Granger in my office." Ariana looked at everyone else. "Let this be a lesson, Gryffindors. Headmistress McGonagall did not tolerate any foolishness while she was Head of Gryffindor and I will not either." She followed Hermione and Harry into her office. It didn't look that much different from the way Minerva had set it up—except that the chairs looked more comfortable. She sat behind the desk and motioned for the two of them to sit as well. "You reminded me a lot of your father when you were fighting. He too only fought to defend his family's honor. The other Slytherins were terrible toward him and Severus, just because they were friends with Gryffindors. You have no idea how many letters I received about Gawain getting detention for this or that, usually with the other Marauders. I have no doubts that you will undergo the same trials that he did, just because you're a Malfoy in Gryffindor. For that, I'm sorry. By the time I learned that Abraxas and Lucius were following Voldemort, it was too late to stop them—not that I could have if I tried. I would've been killed. I want you two to know that I will be here if you need a safe haven from the rest of the House, and my door will always be open if you need to sleep somewhere other than your dorm. Minerva won't mind…she suggested it. Hermione, I know, from what Minerva's told me and what I've witnessed already, that you and Harry are very close. Make sure you remain that way. It's the only thing that will prevent them from winning." She didn't quite grasp something about their relationship. They were very close for only knowing each other five years.

"We know. We've always known that. Nearly getting killed by a mountain troll, giant movable chess pieces, dragons, basilisks, Voldemort, and a werewolf makes you realize that you need to keep your friends very close." Harry took Hermione's hand.

"You two have had quite the experience, haven't you?"

Hermione smiled. "And that was just at Hogwarts."


	24. Chapter 24:A Change of Heart

Minerva burst into Severus' rooms and slammed a piece of parchment onto his desk. "I haven't been this angry at a Gryffindor since James and Sirius turned all of my clothes green and silver. I cannot believe the _nerve_ of that boy!"

Severus blinked at the Headmistress. He'd never seen her quite that angry before. "Who are you talking about, Minerva? This doesn't have anything to do with Harry, does it?"

"Of course it does! Harry walks into the Common Room, sits down, and is immediately insulted by Seamus Finnegan. The boy insinuated that Harry and Hermione plotted to kill Weasley so that they could get together! He also happened to mention that he thought that Harry and all of his family members are Death Eaters. I have never been so insulted in my life. She only gave him two days worth of detention, but I have half a mind to make it two months!"

"And how did Harry react to this?"Severus continued sipping his cup of tea. He'd been looking at their newest batch of Defense applicants. None of them looked promising.

"Harry proceeded to break Finnegan's nose, giving him two black eyes. Ariana was pretty sure Harry broke his hand, but she couldn't persuade _your_ stubborn nephew to take himself to see Poppy."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "That's highly unusual for Harry. He's seen far too physical violence to resort to it himself. He's usually rather restrained."

"Ariana said it took the entirety of the Gryffindor Quidditch team to pull him away."

"So we finally see the Malfoy in him. I never thought we would. Of course, his mother got into a few fistfights herself. I suppose that comes with having three brothers and not spending time with females. Please tell me that the detentions are with me."

"They are. Who else could keep them from killing each other?" Minerva sank into one of Severus' comfy chairs. "I never thought that Gryffindors would have so much of an issue with Harry being a Malfoy. Apparently, the whole house, with the exception of the Quidditch team, is against Harry for being who he is, and Hermione for siding with him."

"That's Gryffindors for you, Minerva… too quick to judge, too stubborn to think through things. I would know. Most of my closest friends are, were, in Gryffindor. Lily, Remus, and James didn't really belong there though. The three of them would have been better suited in Ravenclaw. Sirius would have done well in Slytherin, but his temper would have gotten him killed the first day. Don't tell him I said that though. He'd never let me hear the end of it." Severus looked wistfully at the picture of the Marauders on his desk.

"Do you miss them, Severus?"

Severus looked startled at her question. It took him a few moments before he answered. "I miss them every time I see Harry and Hermione acting like Lily would have. Everything can be answered by going to the library, that's what they all said." Severus took another sip of his cooling tea. "I've never told anyone this, Minerva, but since I trust you… every night, especially if I've had a lot of time to myself that day, I have nightmares about the night Lily and James were killed. Sometimes it plays out as it really happened. Lately, it's been Dumbledore killing them instead of Pettigrew and Voldemort. Last night, though, it was me. I woke up shaking and had to call Sirius to reassure me that I didn't kill them, that it really was Voldemort."

"Don't hesitate to come to me, either. I may be your boss, but I'm also your family-- by choice. Remember that. You were not responsible for their deaths."Minerva paused for a moment. "Do you use Silencing wards on your bed? Harry does. He has horrible nightmares as well. I've found him, more times than I care to count, expelling the contents of his stomach after a particularly nasty dream. You should talk to him, Severus. You two really do have a lot in common."

Severus smiled. "Everyone says that."

* * *

Late that night, as Severus prepared for bed, he heard frantic knocking on his door. "Professor, let me in, please Professor, they're going to kill me!" He ran to answer whoever was out there. A sobbing, bloodied Draco Malfoy knelt in his doorway.

"Come in, Mr. Malfoy." Severus helped him off the ground and healed his bruises. "Would you care to explain what is going on? It isn't often that I have students knocking on my door saying they're going to die."

"I don't want to be a Dark Wizard, Professor. I want to be like Harry. Even when everyone hates him, he is still able to walk around with dignity that I could never match. I want to have what he has. Everyone in Slytherin hates me now, anyway, just because I'm related to him."

Severus would have laughed had the situation not been so serious. "Professor McGonagall just informed me that everyone in Gryffindor hates Harry because he's related to you. I think you two are more alike than you know." Severus walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a few blankets. He tossed them at Draco. "You may sleep on my couch tonight. We'll talk with Harry and Hermione in the morning."

"Thanks, sir. You're not so creepy after all."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Feel free to blame that on my nephew."

A/n: Sorry for the lack in updates recently. You'll be getting at least three additional chapters by the weekend though, so that should make you all happy.


	25. Chapter 25:The Letter

Severus came to Harry the next morning at breakfast."Harry, Draco wishes to speak with you and Hermione. He came to me last night, looking as if he'd been given a thorough beating. He says that he doesn't wish to be evil like his father."

Harry turned to Hermione. "I'm willing to give him a chance if you are, provided he allows us to try the Harmony Spell on him."

"He _is_ family, Harry." She gazed at the other Gryffindors, many of whom had made it quite clear that they no longer wished to associate with her, Harry, or anyone who liked them. "Considering the way most of our House is treating us, it would be a bit hypocritical to not give Draco a second chance."

"Great minds think alike, 'Mione. Can we talk to him now? We're done eating." Harry picked up his school bag.

"I didn't want him to go back to Slytherin last night, so he's in my rooms. I have a feeling that I may just have to give him permanent houseroom, because he's not going to live long if the Slytherins get a hold of him," Severus told the two as they headed to the dungeons.

"You know, Uncle Sev, if we're going to be ostracized, we might as well do something to deserve it."

"That's the spirit, Harry. You sounded like Sirius for a moment."Severus sighed dramatically. "Merlin help us if you decide to be like that on a regular basis."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, normally he's like you. How's that any different?"

"I should give you a detention for that Ms. Granger, but seeing that you already have a significant amount of them, I'll let that remark go."

Severus opened the door to his rooms and let them in. "You have twenty minutes until class starts, but I won't care if you're a bit late. This is more important that your need to review. I'll be in the classroom if you need me."

"Hello, Draco," Harry said, sitting next to his cousin on the couch. "How's it going?"

"I'm shocked that you actually agreed to speak with me. I wouldn't have if I were you. I've been horribly nasty." Draco sighed. "I'm sorry, Harry, Hermione. I don't want to be like that anymore. I don't want to be my father…"he looked at Harry

"We know. That's why we're going to give you a second chance. Barely anyone in Gryffindor likes us anymore, and I hear that you have the same problem in Slytherin. Family should stick together."

Draco looked hopeful. "You really mean that?"

"He's a Truth-Future Seer, Draco. He can't lie to you or anyone else. We both are willing to give you another chance. We haven't exactly been nice to you either."She nodded to Harry. "We'd like to perform a spell on you to make absolutely sure that you want to be good. It shouldn't hurt."

"At this point, I'll do anything."

Harry and Hermione took out their wands. This would be the last test of the Harmony spell for a while.

"You're good. I suppose you'll do to replace Ron. You've got much better manners, at least." Harry grinned. He held out his hand. "Welcome to the group, Draco."

Draco grinned back.

Over the next few weeks, Harry, Draco, and Hermione earned a new nickname from the teachers— the "Dream Team." Not only were they the three most intelligent fifth years, surpassing all of the Ravenclaws, they were also ahead in all of their subjects. Wherever Harry and Hermione were, Draco was. The newly formed friendship did face several tests, though, especially one day in early October.

Draco had taken to eating all of his meals at the Gryffindor table. Severus didn't care, and neither did anyone else. Hedwig and Draco's eagle owl, Apollo, who had taken a great liking to each other, flew in together with the morning mail. Apollo had a black envelope in his beak. Draco handed it to Harry. "I can't open that, Harry. What if it's my mother that's died?"

"I'll do it." Harry broke the seal on the envelope. "Do you mind if I read it aloud, Draco?"

"Quietly," Draco said nervously. On Harry's other side, Hermione was reading the mail that Hedwig had brought her.

"_Draco, I'm sorry to inform you that your father died last night in his cell at the French Ministry. The death appeared to be from natural causes, though we will be conducting a thorough autopsy. I also wish to inform you, and Harry if he's around, that your mother and I are in a relationship. We are "dating". We have been together since your father went to prison. There is the possibility that we may get married in the near future. We are very happy together, but if either one of you have an objection to our relationship, then we want to know about it. Sincerely, your Uncle Gawain._" Harry raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry about your dad, Draco. Well, I would be if he hadn't tried to kill me several times, anyway."

"I don't blame you for that. I'm not, either. He was a cruel, heartless, evil man, and he got what he deserved. If I feel anything for him, it's pity. He turned his back on Nana, Mum, and me a very long time ago. Speaking of which, I don't have a problem with them, do you?"

"My mum died fourteen years ago. I know he loved her a lot, and that's enough for me. I'm not going to be angry that he's found someone else." He munched on a piece of bacon. "We could be brothers then. That'd be alright." Harry heard Hermione swear. She never swore.

"This is from my parent's." She threw a crumpled and newly-tear stained sheet of stationary at toward him. "They heard about what happened in September and they told me that I have to either go home, or never speak to them again."

"Who the heck told them? Aunt Minerva said that no one in our family would tell them since they wouldn't understand." Harry tried to put his arm around her. She threw it off.

"It was probably some Ministry idiot. They don't understand the meaning of tact," Draco muttered into his eggs.

She ran out of the Great Hall. Harry just sat there in shock. "She's obviously very angry right now, Harry. I wouldn't go after her."

"I've never seen her like that before, Draco. Never. Where do you think she's gone?" Harry put his head in his hands.

"I don't know. Under normal circumstances, I'd say she's gone to the library. These aren't normal circumstances, and she's not a normal girl, so my next guess is that she either went to Professor McGonagall, Nana or her dorm. What did they say that made her so emotional anyhow?"

Harry smoothed out the piece of paper.

"_Dear Hermione, _

_The Ministry of Magic had recently informed us that you've been involved in several dangerous situations recently and that you've even been accused of murder. Obviously, the Wizarding World is not as wholesome as we've been lead to believe. Apparently, your "boyfriend" is a wanted man by some evil wizard, three of his uncles have served prison time, and his grandfather is a follower of this evil wizard. You need to stop pretending that you belong in that world and come home to us. You can continue your schooling and forget all about them. If you don't come home, you can be certain that you'll never see us again. Lovingly, Mum and Dad." _

"_Lovingly_? Right, and I'm a large, purple hippogriff! She can't go back to the Muggle world…she _belongs_ _here_." Draco shook his head. "We've got to get to Potions, Harry. Take her stuff, maybe she'll come to class. She wouldn't miss class, would she?"

"I don't know. I'd like to know who in the Ministry informed them, because I'd like to rip them to pieces right now."

"Give me that note...I'm going chuck it in the rubbish bin where it belongs. Or burn it...that would be more fun."

As they walked to Potions, Harry tried to talk to her using their link. " '_Mione, please talk to me." _

"_I'm going to ignore everything you try to tell me right now, so I wouldn't try it, Harry. Go away." _

Harry's face went pale. "She won't talk to me."

"Go talk to Nana, Harry. I'll explain the situation to Professor Snape." Draco sincerely hoped that they worked something out. He wasn't sure Harry'd survive without his Hermione.

Severus noticed that something was wrong the second that Draco walked in alone. "Mr. Malfoy, where are your companions?"

"Hermione got a letter from her parents saying that she either has to come home and give up magic and Harry forever or she has to give up them. They weren't very complementary toward Harry in their letter. She ran out of breakfast, she won't talk to Harry at all."

"She won't talk to Harry?" Severus' jaw dropped. "That's unheard of."

"I know. He's really broken up about it, too. I told him to go talk to Nana. Maybe she can help."

Severus nodded. "That was probably a good idea. If anyone can help Hermione, it's your grandmother. She helped Lily and I with some major family issues."

"I don't think he can survive without her, Professor. I think, if she leaves, he'll die."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, Draco."

A/n: I have a bunch of chapters written (I just need to type them!) The next chapter will deal with the resolution of this issue, then a Hogsmede weekend and some very interesting plot changes.


	26. Chapter 26:Draco's Dilemma

Draco trudged through the heavy October rain to the greenhouses. Herbology was one of the only classes that he didn't have with Harry and Hermione, and today that made everything even worse. He was far ahead of the rest in what they were studying, so he had time to think about the situation more clearly. Suddenly, he had a horrible, terrible thought. "Professor Sprout?"

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I'm feeling ill. May I make a visit to the Hospital Wing?" He hated to lie to the kindly teacher, but he needed to go see Professor McGonagall.

"Of course you may, Mr. Malfoy. I do hope you feel better." Draco sprinted toward the castle as soon as he left the greenhouses. He slipped a few times, and by the time he reached the door, his robes were dripping with mud and water. He managed to avoid Filch, which he counted as something that was finally going in his favor. He whispered the password, which Minerva had made sure Harry and all of his friends knew, and ran up the stairs.

"What is the matter, Mr. Malfoy? Aren't you supposed to be in class now?" Minerva gazed at him over her spectacles.

"Professor, you've heard about the situation with Hermione, right?" She nodded. "What if it wasn't a Ministry official that went to her house? What if it was Death Eaters trying to lure her away from us so that they could kill her?"

"We hadn't considered that possibility. I will alert the proper authorities immediately, Draco. Thank you for coming to see me." Minerva waved her wand at him, and the mud disappeared. "Do you want some tea? I'm not going to make you go back out there today."

"A cup of tea would be much appreciated, Professor." Draco sat down in one of the chairs near the fireplace. "Have you heard anything from Hermione?"

Minerva gave him the tea and shook her head. "I haven't. She won't speak with anyone. Harry's quite troubled over the whole matter, as he should be. I'm tempted to send for Sirius."

"I'm going to try to get him to talk with Professor Snape. He's his godfather and his uncle, and Harry really looks up to him."

"That he does…I'm going to floo call Auror Moody now. You'll be alright alone in here, right?"

"I'll be fine. I'm in one of the safest parts of Wizarding Britain." Draco tried to smile, but failed miserably.

Harry did show up for Transfiguration, probably at the insistence of Ariana. "She still won't talk to me, Draco. Tomorrow's Saturday…what am I going to do for a whole day if she's not talking to me?"

"We'll go to the library, Harry, like we always do on Saturdays, and continue with our extra Defense and Transfiguration work. After that, you'll go to Quidditch Practice, like you always do, and I'll try to see whether Slytherin will be able to beat you next week. We have to try to keep our normal schedule and let her come to us."

Ariana began class. "Today we are going to learn some basic human transfiguration. As Mr. Malfoy and Mr. Black Malfoy mastered this several weeks ago, they will demonstrate for you." Draco and Harry hated demonstrating in class. However, they took the opportunity to be distracted from their thoughts and ran with it. Somehow, instead of simply demonstrating what Ariana asked, it escalated into an exhibition of Draco and Harry's extensive knowledge of Transfiguration. She let it go, even giving points for a particularly good hair color changing spell that Harry used on Draco. "Do not let it get violent, boys. Keep it to not lethal spells, please. I don't want to send your bodies home to your parents or have to explain why I let my grandsons kill each other."

"Isn't some of that stuff NEWT level, Professor? How can they know that?" Lavender Brown asked.

"Harry comes from a long line of relatives with Transfiguration Masteries, and he's very powerful in most areas himself. His mother was eligible for Mastery Levels in Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, and Defense, but she refused them when she learned that werewolves were not allowed the same honors. She and Remus Lupin, your former Defense Professor, were quite close. She holds the record for the highest scores in three of those, and she tied for highest with her brother in Potions. Draco, Harry, and Hermione Granger would be bored out of their minds if we forced them to do the same work as the rest of you." Ariana could tell that the class, which was paying very close attention to the duo, was beginning to change their minds about the two. "Muggleborns aren't allowed Masteries either, unless they prove to be exceptional. That does not mean, however, that those of you who are Muggleborn should not try your hardest. You could be the one who changes their minds." Maybe she could help these students realize that blood purity meant little when it came to levels of power and pure talent.

Draco and Harry walked slowly to the library for their free hour. Perhaps Hermione would be there. "I don't think she'd decide to go home, Harry. They'd make her give up her wand and everything. They might even Obliviate her."

Harry turned to Draco. "Are you up for a bit of flying, Draco? If she won't come to us, we're going to her. My Firebolt can hold two people if you don't want to run all the way down to the dungeons to get your broom."

"This is probably the craziest idea you've ever had, dear cousin, but I'm in." They turned and ran to Gryffindor tower. Harry let Draco in, and they went up to the fifth year boys' dorm to grab the Firebolt. "Why exactly do you have to get your broom? We can't just walk into the girls' dorm?"

"No, we can't. Their staircase turns into a slide if any male who isn't an authorized professor steps foot on it. Don't they have that in Slytherin?"

"No." Draco shook his head. Gryffindors. Luckily, no one was in the Common Room when Harry flew up the stairs. "This is ridiculous. Why am I friends with Gryffindors?" Draco muttered.

They found the fifth year dorm easily. Hermione was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, all of her belongings packed. "Why have you packed all of your stuff? You can't go home, Hermione. There are Death Eaters out there who'd kill you in a second."

"I'm not going to even ask how you two got up here. It's supposed to be impossible. My things are packed, Harry, because I'm going home. I can't give up my parents. I've been keeping up with Muggle schooling too, so I'll be ready to transfer somewhere." Her voice was on the verge of tears. "My parents are right, I can't continue endangering my life."

Draco put his hand on Harry's shoulder to offer some support to his cousin. He could not believe the words that just came from a girl he thought he knew. No one, except Harry, loved the Wizarding World more than Hermione. How could she just pack up and walk away from them? "If you leave, you're not protected anymore. You'll be by yourself, facing who knows how many Death Eaters. You will die if you go home. You'll kill Harry by doing that, too." Draco didn't care whether Harry heard what he was saying or not, it had to be said.

"He'll find someone else, Draco. There are plenty of other girls out there. You can be his best friend and live your lives without me. I'm leaving tomorrow morning. I do not wish for you to see me off." She turned her back to him.

"Are you afraid that if you look at us, at me, you'll change your mind, Hermione? Are you afraid that if you look at what you're leaving behind, that you'll realize the only place you truly belong is with us? With me?" Harry shouted, tears falling down his face. He'd never really told her how much she meant to him. "I love you with all of my heart, and if you want to leave, go ahead, but Draco's right—it will kill me." Harry turned and ran. Draco gave Hermione one last scathing look and ran after him. It was now up to Draco to save Harry, so that Harry could save the world. If Draco failed his task, they were all doomed.


	27. Chapter 27:We're Family,Harry!

Draco followed Harry through several twisting corridors and down nearly every staircase in the school...or so it seemed to someone who usually only went to the dungeons, the library, and classes. He didn't try to talk with Harry—that would have been useless considering his current state of mind. Draco hoped that Harry wasn't headed outside. It hadn't stopped raining all day, and now there was thunder and lightning crisscrossing the grounds. He gave up all hope of attending the rest of his classes that day. He, Hermione, and Harry were so far ahead of everyone else that it didn't really matter whether they showed up or not.

"He isn't going to fly in this weather, is he?" Draco groaned aloud. "I'm going to need my broom for that." Just then, Ginny came walking by him.

"What's going on Draco?" Her voice was full of concern. She'd never seen Harry run that fast.

"No time to explain now, Ginny. Just meet me outside in a few minutes, if you don't have a class, with a broom. It doesn't matter who's it is or what type. I just need one. Get one of his family members too, tell them to come out to the Quidditch pitch."He yelled as he followed Harry outside into the storm.

Ginny's free period happened to be that hour as well, so she hurried to her dorm to get the Firebolt that Sirius, Gawain, Molly, and Regulus had given her when she'd made the Quidditch team as Keeper. She knew Draco wouldn't ask for a broom if it wasn't important.

He found Harry in the air. Draco watched him get more and more reckless with each move. He knew Harry was a consummate flier, but this was going a bit overboard. "Harry, get down here! Stop this madness at once!" His cousin couldn't hear him over the thunder, but that didn't stop Draco, who was going to do everything he could to stop Harry from killing himself or being struck by lightning, from yelling at the top of his lungs.

Ginny came up to him and handed him her broom. "Here…Professor Snape doesn't have a class now or next period, so he's coming. Hermione's leaving isn't she?"

"Yeah." Draco's voice was hoarse from screaming. He immediately tried to stop Harry, using all of the spells he knew that wouldn't knock fliers from their brooms.

"Draco, stop it! Just let me go! I've lost every friend I started with. Why do you care about me?"

He had to try to knock some sense into this boy. "I care because _you are my friend and my cousin. _You are my best friend! We can't save her from the Death Eaters if you're dead! I'm not nearly as powerful as you are. I couldn't fend off as many. We're part of a team, Harry…we're family." Draco was drenched and it was getting colder out.

Back on the ground, Ginny was trying to explain to Severus what was going on. "I think it's something having to do with Hermione, Professor. Harry's gone mad, and Draco's trying to get him to come down. It's not working well, since Harry has Malfoy, Black, McGonagall, and Ravenwood stubbornness. Good luck trying to get him down, sir."

"Ginny, please go inside. We don't need you to catch a cold. Alert Poppy that I will be bringing both Harry and Draco to the Hospital Wing. Tell the twins to come out here if they're free, they may be able to help us. Oh, and take 50 points for Gryffindor." Severus got on his ancient Cleansweep 4, which he wasn't sure handled well enough for him to be up in this weather. "What's going on, Dragon?" Severus had come up with various nicknames for the three fifth years since they spent so much time with him. Harry's nickname was Snitch, and Hermione's was Dictionary.

By this point, Draco barely had enough voice left to manage a whisper. "'Mione's leaving. I told you about the letter, right?"

"You did. She's leaving?"There were things about this scenario that struck Severus as odd. He didn't say anything. It was no wonder that Harry had gone crazy.

"She chose her parents over the love of her life, the world she belongs in, and her friends. I think this is a ploy by Voldemort to separate us and pick us off one by one." They watched Harry take dive after dive.

"I'm inclined to agree with you, Dragon, but we can't force her to stay here against her will. We can send Sirius and Regulus to watch over her, though."

"Thanks. I can't take care of her and watch him at the same time." Draco started shivering. Severus had grabbed a cloak, but Draco was just in his thin school robes.

"Let's trade brooms. I was a decent flier in my day, and if I have a good broom, I can keep up with him. Don't worry; I'll it back to Ginny when I'm done. Try to hover beneath us, in case I have to do something drastic. You are going to receive major points for this, don't worry. Not that it matters…you may die of from an illness if we don't get you two in soon."

It took Severus and Draco another three hours to get Harry inside, with a little help from the twins, by which time the two fifth years were getting ill. "Harrison Orion Abraxas Black Malfoy, you are going to stay with me tonight. You are not going to go anywhere alone."Severus cast strong drying charms on the three of them, though that didn't matter much. School was over by this point, and most of the castle was heading for dinner. "Dragon, go and see Poppy. I need to talk to Harry alone for a second or two."

Severus put his hands on Harry's shoulders. "I understand that you feel like your heart has been ripped out of your chest. I know how it feels to have someone who you love with every fiber of your being leave you. I know how it is, Harry. I experienced that when I lost my sister. I did the same thing you did, only it wasn't raining that October day, or any of the November days immediately following that October day. It might not be the same kind of love that you share with Hermione, but it's still love. Love hurts sometimes."Severus pulled Harry into a tight hug. "But Harry, you can't forget that there are other people who love you. Draco would follow you into a pit of poisonous vipers. Your dad, Siri, Regulus, your nana, Minerva…they all love you. So do I, Harry. When your mum named me as one of your godfathers, I never thought I could love anyone more than I loved the Marauders, well except for Peter. But do you know what? I found out that I _could_ love someone more than that, especially when I was entrusted with his safety. If you asked Sirius, he'd say the same thing. Don't hurt us just because you are hurting." Severus let him go, but put his arm around him and walked him into the Hospital Wing. It was going to be a very long time before he forgave Hermione for treating Harry like this, even if they found out that Voldemort was somehow involved.

Draco was sleeping soundly on one of the uncomfortable hospital beds. "He's utterly exhausted, Severus. What is going on here?"

"As soon as Harry joins Draco in dreamland, I'll explain it all to you, Poppy."

A/n: Almost 100 reviews! That's so cool! A big thanks to all of you who review regularly, and to those who don't review but are reading the story! You guys (or girls) are awesome!


	28. Chapter 28:Saving the World, Pt1

Draco and Harry sat on the floor of Severus' office studying. They were so far ahead in most of their classes that Minerva allowed them to skip Transfiguration and Charms so that she could give the two of them Animagus lessons. "Professor, have you heard anything about Hermione?"

Harry's head jerked up and he looked at Severus almost pleadingly. "Sirius said that all she does is study. She's been in the Muggle world for nearly two months and she doesn't have a single friend at her new school."

"There haven't been any Death Eater's around there, though?"Harry asked. Though he claimed he didn't love her anymore, he sure sounded protective.

"No, but he did figure out which "ministry official" came to them."Severus turned his chair toward them. "Draco's dear Aunt Bella."

"Wait a minute, Professor…_Aunt Bella_ went into a completely _muggle_ neighborhood, talked to some muggles, and not one of them ended up _dead_? I wasn't aware that she had that much restrain. Besides, I thought she was in Azkaban." Draco set his books aside. "Something's up."

"So did we. Apparently, Voldemort broke out his most loyal 've known that since the beginning. We just haven't been able to figure out what's going on. He's been extra vigilant since he found that out, of course. He also mentioned that your parents are going to get married over Christmas."

"You can't have my room."Harry grinned at Draco for the first time since Hermione had left.

"I wouldn't want to sleep in your room. It's probably too Gryffindor for me." The grey-eyed boy pretended to be disgusted.

"Actually, my room is green and black, just like Uncle Severus' room."Harry stuck his tongue out at Draco. "I was supposed to be in Slytherin, you know."

Severus sputtered. "When were you in my room, Harry? I have some of the strongest wards in the house on my door and my window…there are some volatile Potions ingredients in my room at home, too."

"You forget, dear Uncle Severus, that I helped ward the house, and that my wards are stronger than yours. It took me about three minutes to take down the ones on the door and change the color of your bed to a nice sunny yellow and your walls and furniture to Chuddley Cannons orange. I did it right after you and Aunt Minerva left for Hogwarts."

His eyes narrowed. "You are going to be in for some big trouble when we get home, Harry."

"Draco and I together can undo anything you could do to us."

"I highly doubt that even you and Draco could undo something if I asked Gawain and Sirius to help me." Severus grinned, happy to see that his favorite nephew was starting to feel better. "I should take points from Gryffindor for that, you know."

"You wouldn't!" Draco put his hands to his heart. "You've never taken points from Gryffindor!"

"That would be horrible, Uncle Sev! Taking points from Gryffindor would be like…giving points to Slytherin!"

Severus shook his head."You two are impossible. Isn't there someone else you could go bother? Don't you have Animagus lessons soon, or something?"

"We don't have Animagus lessons at night."They said together. "We don't have them during the day anymore either." In a few seconds, two "tiny" silver dragons stood before him. Harry was about eight feet long and five feet high, while Draco was a bit smaller. They both had dark blue wings.

"I have never seen anyone manage a transformation into an American Midnight Dragon. They're extremely rare. Have you shown Minerva yet?" They changed back.

Draco nodded. "She nearly passed out. For once, she said that perhaps it would be better if we didn't register with the Ministry."

"We live in Paris anyway, Draco. We don't have to deal with the British Ministry unless they start interfering with Hogwarts." Harry sighed contentedly.

"They will if we can't find a Defense Professor soon. It's December 14th and none of the applicants have been anywhere near qualified." Severus wrote a giant, red "T" at the top of the paper he was correcting. "For Merlin's sake, you would _think_ that a Seventh Year who was intelligent enough to make it into NEWT level Potions would know that bezoars can serve as an antidote to nearly any poison."The Potions Master glared at the parchment. "You two knew that, didn't you?"

"It was in your speech first year," Draco said without looking up from _So You Want to Get a Potions Mastery_.

"It's typically found in the stomach of a goat, though one can occasionally come across them in cows. Phoenix tears are much more effective when getting rid of deadly poisons, though," Harry added, while finishing _Defense Techniques for the Auror Trainee. _

"At least you two pay attention. I have no doubts that you'll receive all O's on your OWLs."Severus looked at the two books that they were reading. "Have you been raiding my private library again?"

"Nope. We had Dad send these from my room at home. I love being able to read an entire book in five minutes and understand every word. It makes life so much easier."

"Lucky…where'd you get that from?" Draco was a bit jealous, though he could read fast; he was nowhere near as fast as Harry or Hermione.

"The McGonagall side…everyone can do it. How else do you think Aunt Minerva has time to keep up with everything?"

Draco looked as if he had a brilliant idea. "We've been reading for three hours, Harry. We should test some of our new knowledge."

Severus stood up. "You may not have a duel in my office, Mr. Malfoy. You know the rules. If you're that bored, you could go make some potions for the Hospital Wing. They're running low on Pepper-Up."

Harry suddenly turned pale. "Uncle Sev…Hermione's in Little Hangleton."

Severus' eyes went wide. "You wouldn't have made any mistakes with the location work in your bond…Draco, go get Minerva and tell her to alert Gawain and to make sure that Sirius is alright. He wouldn't have let them take her if he could help it. Tell her that Harry and I went to save her."

"You aren't bringing me?"

"Someone who has a connection with me has to stay here, Dragon. You're part of our blood bond and you can tell where she and I are at all times, can't you?" The day Hermione left, Harry had made Draco a part of their bond, if only because it allowed both of them to keep track of her better.

"I can. I can talk to you, too. Good idea." He sprinted off to find the Headmistress.

Harry looked at Severus. "I don't know that she deserves this after what she did, but I certainly don't want Voldemort to kill her."


	29. Chapter 29: Saving the World, Pt 2

The scene in Little Hangleton was chaotic—and that was a nice way of saying things. The snow-covered yard of the manor that had once been home to Voldemort's muggle family members was strewn with debris from the trees and there were patches of the snow that looked as if they'd been scorched. "Put up your hood, you'll be less noticeable that way."

"What about you?" Harry wasn't going to let his favorite uncle walk into Voldemort's main headquarters without some protection.

"I'm going to put on mine as well. I may spend a lot of time around you and Draco, but I'd rather not subject myself to needless torture." The two of them were hidden behind a fallen tree, but they had no way to get inside without being seen. "There's a way to get in from the back, but we'll have to be quick about it."

"Quick is my middle name, dear uncle." Severus led Harry around the side of the house to the back.

"The old servants' staircase is just through that door." Severus pointed out a moldy wooded door that hung off its hinges. "One, two, three…run!" Harry bolted for the door. He stood tightly against the wall and waited for further instructions. "They'll have her in the main room…just down this corridor. If we can remain unnoticed until then, we'll have a tremendous advantage. Keep calm and act as if nothing unusual is going on."

"My, my…so very pretty and so very stupid." Harry heard Voldemort hiss as they came closer to the room where Hermione was—the same room where Lucius and the Death Eaters had tortured Harry in summer. "It's a shame you were so nasty to _my dear friend_ Harry, or he might have come to save you. I will have fun sending him horrible images of your dead body."

Severus nodded to Harry. "Go ahead. I'll get your back; just do what you need to do."

Harry walked into the room, slowly threading his way into the center of the group. He threw off his hood. "Once again Voldemort, you underestimated the power that true love can have. Someone very wise, though easily swayed by her innate trust in authority figures, once said that evil wins battles, but not the war. Today, you aren't going to win either."

Hermione's eyes widened. She was covered in bruises and gashes from the various curses they'd thrown at her. She hadn't thought that Harry would come to her aid after how foolish she'd been in trusting a letter that Bellatrix Lestrange had coerced her parents into writing. Severus had thrown up a strong ward that would keep the Death Eaters back long enough for Harry and Hermione to use the spell that they'd worked so hard on. Hermione smiled, gathered enough strength to stand up, and grabbed Harry's hand.

"You two don't have enough power to kill me. Indeed, I'll even give you a free shot, just to prove it. I'm immortal now, thanks to Harry's blood. _No one_ can kill me." Voldemort cackled. He saw no use for love, and wanted, desperately, to see them fail.

"Goodbye, Tom Marvlo Riddle. It's been a pleasure." The same gold light that had destroyed Dumbledore emerged from their wands and hit a shocked Voldemort in the chest. Everyone in the room with a Dark Mark fell to the ground, having met the same fate as their master.

"This time, he's not coming back." He turned toward her and grasped her hands. "I forgive you, Hermione. I never stopped loving you, even though it seemed as if you'd stopped loving me."

"Love always wins, Harry. I may have pushed it away, but I'm not going to do that again." There, in the middle of the now deceased Death Eaters, their lips locked in one of the most passionate kisses Severus had ever seen…and he'd seen plenty in his life, especially since Lily and Gawain were both hopeless romantics. She brushed aside his hair. "Your scar is fading, Harry."

He just grinned at her, as various members of the British Ministry for Magic swarmed in around them. Alastor Moody stomped over to the couple. "You'll surely be up for Orders of Merlin now. Did you use that spell that you've become so famous for?"

"Yes. My dad said that it's now legal in 76 countries, plus Puerto Rico. They've deemed it the best way of ridding the world of evil…though it takes two powerful people in love to cast it together."He locked eyes with Hermione. "Our services may be in high demand."

"I'll use that as your statement. I take it you didn't intend for all of his followers to die as well?"

Harry looked at the fallen sadly. "No. They made their decision to be evil…there's not much to be said about them."

"Aye. Sometimes the most necessary things are the hardest to take. I'll be in touch with you, personally, as we finish here. May I contact you at Hogwarts?" Severus, who was still in shock, nodded at the old Auror.

"_Draco?"_

"_Yes, Harry?" _

"_We did it. Voldemort's gone, and even better than that, Hermione's coming back!"_

"_You didn't tell me you put Draco in our bond, Harry."_ Hermione "glared" at him.

Harry shrugged. "I had to talk to _someone _when you left."

"_Oh, so now that she's back I'm relegated to "someone"." _

"_Come on, Draco. We still love you." _

"_Good, because you'll be stuck with me as a brother in a few weeks." _

Hermione glared at him again. "You didn't tell me that when you talked to me every night when you thought I was asleep."

"We just found out today, 'Mione. You'll come for Christmas, won't you?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

A/n: Yay! Voldemort is gone, Harry and Hermione have reconciled, and all is right with the world.


	30. Chapter 30:Forever

It was late Christmas Eve, but Severus couldn't seem to fall asleep, no matter how much he tried. Every time he closed his eyes, all he saw were bad memories. "Don't you ever sleep, Sirius?" He asked when he reached the kitchen for a cup of tea."

Sirius shook his head. "Not much. Harry and Hermione's spell may have made me feel like I never went to Azkaban, but it didn't take away any of the memories associated with it."

Severus snorted. "That seems to be a recurring theme tonight. I haven't gotten a wink of sleep since Voldemort died."

"You look like it. If it's any consolation, I don't think Harry ever sleeps properly. He has nightmares every single night. I'm not exactly sure what they are…could be visions, memories, just nightmares, anything." Sirius took a sip of what looked suspiciously like Firewhiskey.

"Merlin knows that between the three of us we have enough bad memories to keep someone less emotionally controlled awake for a hundred years." Severus sipped his tea, though he was sorely tempted to find out where his brother had found the alcohol. Molly had cleaned out every drop while she'd stayed there, for fear that the twins would find it. She had moved back to the Burrow early in December, and had offered to take Regulus as a boarder, though Gawain's house was more than big enough for everyone. He wondered if the two were in some sort of a relationship, but dismissed the thought rather quickly. Bill and Regulus had been at Hogwarts for a few years together. It would be a bit strange.

"Harry has more than anyone should. I heard Draco tell Hermione that when they sleep in that room you set up for them at Hogwarts that Harry wards his sleeping bag with silencing wards. Not to keep sound out, because when Harry sleeps, he sleeps like the dead, but to keep sound in. Apparently he screams a lot in his sleep."

"Minerva mentioned that. She also said that he gets sick sometimes after a particularly rough dream, vision, or whatever. He thinks no one else knows about it."

"That's because he tries to protect everyone. He doesn't want pity and there are times when he doesn't understand his need for love. I blame that on Dumbledore."

"There are many things that can be blamed on Dumbledore. We share some of the blame. If you and I had thought about Harry first, instead of ourselves, he could have grown up with one of us."

"We shouldn't have trusted Peter. I don't think I'll ever stop blaming myself for that one." Sirius wasn't the only one who blamed himself over that. Severus, Gawain, Minerva, and Ariana frequently tried to figure out how they could have worked things out differently.

"Don't. Voldemort could just as easily, though it might have taken a bit longer, used one of us like he used Peter. His weakness was power. Mine, and Harry's, is being willing to do nearly everything and anything for those we love…even if it means going to the dark side. Yours…"

Sirius laughed harshly. "Mine is letting my emotions get the best of me and Gawain never lets emotions out at all. What a crazy group of people we are."

"It's a wonder that we've made it this far, isn't it, Sirius?"

"Indeed."He chuckled. "Now I know I've spent too much time around you. We're starting to sound alike."

"We _are _brothers." Severus looked up at the ceiling. "Do you think we've done what she asked us, Padfoot? Do you think we've taken care of him?"

"There are things we could've done differently, but then we wouldn't have Harry. He wouldn't have that innate sense of love and forgiveness. Just look at us…he was willing to give two people who hadn't been in his life for years, who he didn't even know that well, a chance to become his family. He forgave Draco, even though the boy had been horrible to him for years. I think she'd be proud of him, and us."

"I think you're right. Our job isn't over yet, though, is it? He'll need us around forever."

"Good thing we'll always be there then, isn't it, Sev?"

Maybe they weren't going to be around _forever, _but as long as Harry needed them, Sirius and Severus would be around to take care of him.

A/n: That's the end of this story…*sob*. I hope you've all enjoyed reading this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. There's going to be a sequel called _Taking Care of Them_ (I've already started writing it and I expect the first chapter to be up by Friday.) This will cover 7th year and beyond, beginning with Harry and Hermione getting married during the summer between sixth and seventh year. (I'm not going to write about sixth year. It doesn't figure that much into my story line anyway.)


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